Participated · Seed · Nov 2021

Rabbit operates micro-fulfilment centres and a consumer app to deliver groceries and other convenience items in around 20 minutes. It stocks five categories — groceries, basic fashion items, cosmetics, toys and household items — buying from third-party suppliers, marking up inventory, and selling via the app with a flat delivery fee. The company runs live inventory tracking across small neighbourhood warehouses in Cairo and uses a mix of employed and self-employed riders; its operations target sub-2-minute in-warehouse packing and roughly 18 minutes for delivery. Rabbit launched from stealth last month after being founded in June and currently reports more than 50 orders per location daily, with early metrics showing 30% of orders under 20 minutes in the first two days and 90% in a recent week. The six-month-old startup is recruiting over 100 roles and plans to add a new fulfilment centre every other week through year-end to expand to several major cities within 12 months. Financially, Rabbit announced an $11 million pre-seed raise, a record for that stage in Africa and the Middle East.

Led · Equity · Feb 2016

Visikol is a drug discovery service company based in North Brunswick, NJ. The company focuses on accelerating drug discovery through quantitative histopathology and its patented Visikol® HISTO™ tissue-clearing technology. Visikol® HISTO™ transforms tissues into three-dimensional data sets that can be mined for actionable insights. When paired with fluorescent labeling and 3D microscopy, the technology allows 3D cell culture models and whole tissues to be imaged in their entirety. The company intends to use the newly secured funding to develop bio-imaging services for drug discovery, including 3D in vitro cell culture assays, and to expand its commercial operations. Leadership includes CEO Dr. Michael Johnson and COO Nick Crider; the amount raised was undisclosed. Visikol is a New Brunswick, N.J.-based developer of a nondestructive optical clearing agent, Visikol®, designed to reduce light scattering and enable high-resolution imaging of biological tissues. The company holds exclusive rights to Visikol® through a license from Rutgers University. Visikol plans to use the $225K SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation to further develop its skeletal visualization technology platform to improve developmental and reproductive toxicology (DART) studies. The company was co-founded by Michael Johnson (CEO), Nick Crider (COO) and Tom Villani (CSO). Visikol was originally funded by Foundation Venture Capital Group Inc. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article. Visikol, Inc. develops a patent-pending biological clearing agent that penetrates tissue and renders it transparent without causing structural damage. The technology enables visualization of tissues in three dimensions and has applications in toxicology, pre-clinical drug development, clinical diagnostics, basic research and plant biology. The Visikol technology was invented by Tom Villani along with Rutgers professors Drs. James Simon and Adolfina Koroch. Visikol has exclusively licensed worldwide rights to the technology through an agreement with Rutgers University. The company was founded by Michael Johnson (CEO), Nick Crider (COO) and Tom Villani (CSO) and is based in New Brunswick, N.J. The company recently raised external funding to support development and commercialization of the technology.

Led · Equity · Apr 2013

NovoPedics develops an implantable meniscus replacement and regeneration medical device. Its first product, Meniscofix™, is a biodegradable polymer fiber-reinforced scaffold intended to restore mobility for patients with severe meniscus knee injuries and to help prevent long-term development of arthritis. The company intends to use the funding to continue development of its device. NovoPedics raised up to $500K from Foundation Venture Capital Group to support that work. The company was founded by Charles Gatt and Dr. Michael Dunn.

Led · Seed · Feb 2013

Actinobac Biomed Inc. is a New Brunswick, N.J.-based biopharmaceutical company led by Scott Kachlany, PhD, developing Leukothera®, a protein therapeutic that seeks out and destroys white blood cells involved in disease. Its pipeline targets multiple indications including hematological malignancies (leukemias and lymphomas), a range of autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, and HIV. The Leukothera technology was originally developed at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. The company will use new funding to continue its research and advance its therapeutic programs. Financial detail in the article is limited to the reported investment; no revenue or user metrics were provided. Actinobac Biomed is developing Leukothera®, a natural biologic agent that specifically targets and depletes disease-related white blood cells. The company has exclusively licensed rights to advance Leukothera as a therapeutic for hematologic malignancies (leukemias and lymphomas), a range of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and HIV infection. Proceeds from the recent award will fund pre-clinical studies intended to support an Investigational New Drug (IND) filing with the FDA and eventual human testing. The work is being conducted in collaboration with Rutgers researchers, including founder Scott Kachlany, PhD, and Joseph R. Bertino, M.D. Benjamin Belinka, PhD, is CEO and senior chemist. The company was originally funded by Foundation Venture Capital Group. Actinobac is based in New Brunswick, N.J. Actinobac Biomed develops pharmaceutical agents derived from the natural biologic leukotoxin (Leukothera™) that target Leukocyte Function Antigen-1 (LFA-1) on white blood cells. Its pipeline targets hematologic malignancies (leukemias and lymphomas), latent infections (HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis) and multiple autoimmune diseases. The company holds exclusive therapeutic rights to Leukothera™ under a license from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Actinobac intends to use the new capital to test its lead product, Leukothera, in the treatment of veterinary white blood cell diseases. The company was founded by Dr. Scott Kachlany and was established in 2009. It is based in North Brunswick, New Jersey.

Led · Equity · Jan 2013

MentiNova Inc. is developing an oral medication intended to reduce uncontrollable, often chaotic movements in Parkinson’s patients treated with L‑Dopa. The company is co‑founded by Dr. M. Maral Mouradian, the William Dow Lovett Professor of Neurology and Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative and Neuroimmunologic Diseases at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey‑Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Research to date has provided in‑vivo proof‑of‑principle data supporting the approach. MentiNova has raised $500,000 in funding from Foundation Venture Capital Group. The funds will be used to advance the status of its IND (Investigational New Drug) filing with the FDA and to perform clinical trials testing the efficacy of the treatment. The company is positioning the program toward clinical development to evaluate safety and efficacy in patients experiencing the uncontrollable movements associated with L‑Dopa treatment.