Participated · Series C · Jun 2022

Cerebral Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering intracerebroventricular (ICV) drug delivery via a proprietary implanted infusion system. Its lead investigational therapy, CT-010, is being developed to treat uncontrolled seizures in patients with medically refractory epilepsy. The company’s drug-device combination aims to increase targeted brain exposure, reduce systemic drug exposure, and improve safety and adherence. Cerebral plans to use the new financing to complete an international Phase 2 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of CT-010 and to support Phase 3 readiness. Proceeds will also advance the broader ICV therapies pipeline, including internal programs and collaborations with biopharmaceutical partners. The company emphasizes a biomarker strategy and says its platform is suitable for small molecules, oligonucleotides, antibodies, and enzyme therapies. Cerebral Therapeutics develops drug-device combination therapies that deliver therapeutics directly to the central nervous system via a proprietary implanted intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion system. Its lead investigational product, CT-010, is being developed to treat uncontrolled seizures in adults with medically refractory epilepsy. The company reports emerging Phase 2a data suggesting direct brain administration of CT-010 may dramatically reduce seizure burden. Cerebral plans to use Series B proceeds to initiate an international Phase 2b double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of CT-010. The ICV approach is intended to increase brain exposure, reduce systemic drug exposure, improve safety, and enhance therapy adherence. The company is clinical-stage and focused on severe refractory epilepsy and other uncontrolled neurological diseases. Cerebral Therapeutics is developing reformulated drugs that bypass the blood–brain barrier using chronic implantable infusion systems to improve outcomes for patients with medically refractory epilepsy. The company is conducting a proof-of-concept study in adult patients at the University of Melbourne using a proprietary intracerebroventricular (ICV) formulation of an anti-epileptic drug, which has shown potentially enhanced efficacy and reduced toxicity. Led by Dan Abrams, M.D., CEO, Cerebral plans to use the financing proceeds to file an IND with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial. The company closed a $7.8m Series A extension, bringing total Series A investment to $11m. Backers in the extension included Granite Point Capital Management and Vivo Capital. Cerebral is based in Aurora, Colo. Cerebral Therapeutics is an Aurora, Colo.-based clinical-stage company focused on implanted drug-device combination therapies to improve the lives of patients with uncontrolled neurological diseases. Led by Dan Abrams, M.D., the company’s initial focus is refractory epilepsy. It is developing long-term implanted drug-device combination therapies that bypass the blood-brain barrier to deliver specially formulated neurological therapeutics directly into target regions of the brain. Cerebral Therapeutics is currently exploring direct intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of a proprietary formulation of an anti-epileptic drug to potentially enhance efficacy and reduce toxicity in adult patients with refractory epilepsy. The company closed a $3M Series A financing led by Granite Point Capital Management and Vivo Capital. In conjunction with the financing, Warren Lammert, Mahendra G. Shah, and Stephen J. Farr joined the board, and Andre Cheng will join as a board observer. As a clinical-stage company, its near-term focus is advancing its implanted delivery program through clinical development.

Led · Series A · Apr 2022

Receptor Life Sciences develops innovative therapies that apply FDA-approved drug delivery technologies to treat central nervous system disorders. Its lead candidate, RLS103, is a first-in-class dry powder inhaled cannabidiol (CBD) drug/device combination aimed at acute psychiatric and neurological indications. The company uses inhaled and oral cannabinoid products intended to provide precision, consistency, reliability, and convenience. RLS announced the U.S. FDA accepted the Investigational New Drug application for RLS103 and that the first study startup is underway. Receptor will use proceeds from the financing to advance RLS103 through proof-of-concept clinical safety and efficacy studies. Management highlighted the potential to address multiple psychiatric and neurological disorder indications with unmet medical need. Receptor Holdings, through its wholly owned subsidiary Receptor Life Sciences, develops cannabinoid medicines using patented oral and inhaled drug-delivery technologies. Its oral formulations reportedly enable rapid GI absorption and higher bioavailability than existing oral cannabinoid products, while its breath-powered inhaler with dry powder formulations aims to provide ultra-rapid, precise and discreet delivery to the deep lung. The company states its delivery technologies are validated by their use in FDA-approved products. Receptor plans to initiate IND-enabling studies in the United States and to formalize collaborations in Canada and Europe following the recent financing. The firm also intends to introduce its technologies to non-prescription cannabinoid markets developing in Canada, Europe and elsewhere. Receptor announced a $29 million combined convertible debt and Series A financing to support these activities.

Participated · Series B · Nov 2021

Antios is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies to treat and cure viral diseases, with a lead program targeting chronic HBV. Its lead candidate, ATI-2173, is a once-daily oral investigational phosphoramidate prodrug of clevudine monophosphate and the only Active Site Polymerase Inhibitor Nucleotide (ASPIN) in clinical development. ATI-2173 is in Phase 2b development and is being evaluated in the SAVE-1 trial, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 30 patients testing 25 mg and 50 mg doses daily for 90 days in combination with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF). Preclinical data and Phase 1b results indicate potent on-treatment and durable off-treatment HBV DNA suppression and that the drug has been generally well-tolerated. The company plans to advance ATI-2173 through Phase 2b and further clinical development toward a potential curative once-daily HBV regimen. The recent $75 million financing strengthens Antios's financial position to support these clinical programs. Antios Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies to treat and cure viral diseases. Its lead candidate, ATI-2173, is a novel, orally administered, liver-targeted Active Site Polymerase Inhibitor Nucleotide (ASPIN) designed to deliver the 5'-monophosphate of clevudine to the liver. ATI-2173 is described as a non-competitive, non-chain terminating HBV polymerase inhibitor that distorts the active site, producing potent antiviral activity and extended off-treatment suppression of HBV DNA. The company plans to advance ATI-2173 through a Phase 2 clinical program to evaluate its potential as the backbone of a once-daily curative regimen for chronic hepatitis B. Antios reported potent on-treatment and durable off-treatment effects in a Phase 1b study, with those results slated for presentation at an upcoming medical conference. To support development, Antios completed a $96 million Series B financing. Antios Therapeutics is an Atlanta, GA–based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel antiviral therapies for unmet medical needs. Its lead oral candidate, ATI-2173, is being advanced as part of a curative regimen for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and potentially hepatitis D virus (HDV). The company targets chronic HBV, which affects over 250 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Antios is led by co-founders Abel De La Rosa (CEO) and Douglas Mayers (CMO). The company intends to use proceeds from its recent financing to continue development of ATI-2173. The article does not disclose revenue or user metrics.

Participated · Series B · Jul 2021

Teikametrics offers Flywheel 2.0, an AI-driven marketplace optimization SaaS that automates advertising bidding, market intelligence, financing access, inventory forecasting and multi-marketplace management for online sellers. The platform is used by thousands of sellers and optimizes more than $8 billion in GMV for customers including Munchkin, mDesign, Clarks, Nutribullet, Conair, Nutrafol and Solo Stove. Teikametrics reports rapid growth on Walmart’s marketplace (900% year-over-year) and aims to expand beyond Amazon and Walmart into additional marketplaces. The company positions Flywheel 2.0 to provide full-spectrum ecommerce tools—ads, inventory, financing and analytics—to help brands scale. Founded in 2015 and based in Boston, Teikametrics intends to use new funding to accelerate product development and marketplace expansion in 2021. The business emphasizes AI-enabled decision-making to improve sell-through, ROI and supply-chain efficiency for sellers. Teikametrics builds the Flywheel platform to help retailers and marketplace sellers optimize online ad buying using retailer data such as transactions, inventory and pricing. The company launched focused on Amazon sellers and has expanded to a partnership with Walmart to offer cross-marketplace campaign optimization. Teikametrics says it is AI-first, positioning its product as automation and intelligent decision-making for advertising. The startup plans to launch products beyond advertising later this year and envisions an operating system that optimizes inventory, pricing and other aspects of a retailer’s business. It works with more than 3,000 brands, including Clarks, Razer, Power Practical, Zipline Ski and Mark Cuban’s Brands, and recently hired former Amazon ad executive Srini Guddanti as chief product officer. The Boston-headquartered company has raised additional funding, including a $10M Series A in 2018 and a new $15M round announced in this article. Teikametrics operates Flywheel, a retail optimization platform that helps third-party sellers optimize Amazon advertising by incorporating transaction, inventory, and pricing data to measure gross profit margins and profitability after ad spend. CEO Alasdair McLean‑Foreman says the company uses big data to model seller-side economics that sellers and brands lack in-house. Its platform is used by advertisers representing 1 percent of all sales on Amazon and customers include Razer, Power Practical and Zipline Ski. Teikametrics was founded in 2013 and had been bootstrapped until this round. The company plans to expand its technology beyond Amazon to other marketplaces. The newly raised capital is intended to hire a significant number of machine-learning engineers to better model its large datasets.

Participated · Series A · May 2015

Cyber adAPT is a Half Moon Bay, Calif.-based security company led by President & CEO Kirsten Bay that provides an attack detection platform. Its platform monitors 100% of traffic inside mobile-enabled enterprise networks to surface hidden malicious threats that bypass perimeter defenses. The company has been deployed with government and commercial-sector customers over the last year. Cyber adAPT recently closed an additional $6.0M in Series A funding and, per the article, has raised $15.0M in Series A to date. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand into core markets. Reuben Richards of Black River Investments will join the board as Chairman in conjunction with the investment. Cyber adAPT is a real-time, network-based threat detection platform that exposes sophisticated adversaries hiding inside enterprise networks. The system collects and stores metadata to establish host behavior baselines, growing the system’s intelligence over time. It alerts on likely malicious attacks already present or newly created inside the perimeter and provides a dashboard for rapid threat assessment and reporting capabilities. The product provides visibility around critical business assets and exposes blind spots within the enterprise. The platform can be integrated with NBA systems and/or SIEMs. Founded in 2014 and led by president and CEO Kirsten Bay, the company is based in Half Moon Bay, California.