Participated · Equity · Sep 2023

numa, formerly Cosi, is a Berlin-based digital hospitality startup founded in 2019 that rents rooms and apartments to short-term travelers. The company operates like a classic hotel chain but omits services such as breakfast and a staffed reception to streamline operations. Founders include Christian Gaiser, Dimitri Chandogin, Gerhard Maringer and Inga Svinhufvud Laudiero. numa raised $59 million in a financing from Verlinvest, Cape Capital and existing investors, and was valued at around $300 million according to Handelsblatt. Management says it will use the additional network and financial firepower to grow its digital hospitality platform to run both serviced apartments and hotels. Prior to this round the company had previously raised $45 million from investors including DN Capital, Headline, Cherry Ventures, Soravia, Kreos Capital, TruVenturo and Scope Hanson. NUMA Group is a boutique hotel technology platform that partners with investors, property owners, developers and hotel operators to create technology-enabled units and manage them via a full-stack hospitality offering. It operates roughly 2,500 units across Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona and Vienna and expanded into Spain, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic in 2021. NUMA's platform automates business processes, applies intelligent pricing and aims to increase occupancy and operator profits. It also offers “NUMA go”, a tech-franchise solution that provides third-party hoteliers with its tech stack for a percentage of revenue. The company used the pandemic to prove its model, reporting 500% revenue growth and 85% booking occupancy. Leadership has stated the goal of establishing NUMA as the dominant technology and creative solution provider for a new generation of hotels in Europe.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2023

Crescendo Biologics is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company based in Cambridge, UK, that develops Humabody® VH-based multi‑functional therapeutics. Its lead proprietary programme, CB307, is a half-life extended CD137 x PSMA bispecific designed to activate tumour-specific T cells within the tumour microenvironment while avoiding systemic toxicity. The company uses a patented transgenic mouse platform to generate fully human VH domain building blocks (Humabody VH) that can be configured for novel pharmacology and improved biodistribution. CB307 is in an adaptive Phase 1b clinical trial with a monotherapy expansion cohort underway in PSMA+ metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and a planned pembrolizumab combination expansion cohort expected to start in Q3 2023. Beyond CB307, Crescendo has global discovery and development collaborations with Takeda and BioNTech and an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Zai Lab for ZL-1102, which is expected to enter global Phase 2 for psoriasis. The company recently secured additional financing to enable acceleration of its clinical programme. Crescendo Biologics develops potent, multi-functional Humabody® therapeutics for oncology, with a particular focus on novel targeted T‑cell engagers. Its lead programme, CB307, is designed to stimulate local activation of tumour-specific T‑cells and the company plans to advance CB307 into the clinic. The newly raised funds will also be used to expand Crescendo’s internal pipeline of Humabody-based products and pursue strategic partnerships. Crescendo has a collaboration with Takeda Pharma worth up to $790 million. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, England. The $70 million Series B will fund clinical entry and further platform development. Crescendo Biologics is a Cambridge, UK–based company focused on the discovery and development of human VH antibody fragment therapeutics. The company leverages its VH platform to develop topical biologics for psoriasis and multivalent products for oncology indications. Led by CEO Mike Romanos, Crescendo aims to advance multiple in-house development programmes. The firm raised additional capital in a Series A financing to support those programmes. The Series A was completed with a final close that increased the round size. No operating metrics were disclosed in the article. Crescendo Biologics is a Cambridge, UK-based company focused on the discovery and development of human VH antibody fragment therapeutics. Led by CEO Mike Romanos, the company uses a VH fragment discovery platform to advance in-house development programmes in inflammation and oncology. It is establishing an internal pipeline that includes a topical biologic for psoriasis and multivalent products for oncology indications. In December 2013 Crescendo raised £17.5m ($28m) in a Series A financing to support these efforts. The company intends to use the funds to advance its inflammation and oncology programmes to the clinic. In conjunction with the funding, Rob Woodman of Imperial Innovations joined Crescendo’s board. Crescendo Biologics is a Cambridge, UK–based developer of antibody fragment technologies and a transgenic mouse platform. The platform is designed to rapidly generate high‑affinity human heavy chain antibodies that readily yield VH fragments with no requirement for humanisation. The company aims to apply this technology to create next‑generation targeted biological therapeutics based on fragment antibodies. It has appointed Dr Mike Romanos as CSO; he has extensive experience in biopharmaceutical R&D. Crescendo raised £4.5m in a seed funding round led by Sofinnova Partners, with Aitua, Avlar BioVentures and the Rainbow Seed Fund participating. The proceeds will be used to advance development of the platforms and to initiate the development of proprietary therapeutics.

Participated · Series C · Jul 2023

Qover provides orchestration technology that lets partners embed insurance into digital products and services and currently supports programmes for partners including Revolut, Mastercard, BMW, Monzo, bunq, Canyon and Trust Travel across more than 32 countries. The company reports its platform protects around 15 million users and expects that to reach 55 million by the end of 2026, with a stated goal of protecting 100 million people by 2030. Qover has recorded threefold revenue growth over the past four years and has generated more than $173M in gross written premiums through its embedded insurance programmes. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Brussels, the company is investing in its orchestration platform, AI capabilities and operational infrastructure to scale its embedded insurance offering.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2023

Sdui Group offers a fully integrated, modular cloud suite supporting messaging, attendance, scheduling, grading and other administrative needs for K‑12 schools and preschools. The company says its software is trusted by individual schools, districts, and governments and is used by thousands of institutions across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain. Sdui has grown through both organic growth and acquisitions, having integrated several regional software players to expand capabilities. The business emphasizes a user-first approach and scalable, compliant cloud architecture to simplify daily workflows for teachers, students, administrators, and parents. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in Koblenz, Germany, and currently employs around 230 people across several European countries. Sdui is continuing to expand into new regions and is investing in innovation, reliability, and user experience to support that growth. Sdui Group develops digital operating systems and communication/messaging solutions for schools, preschools and education providers. The company supports educational institutions, providers and ministries in digitalisation and offers products for school and preschool administration and communication. Sdui employs around 230 people and is active in more than 70 countries. Following its acquisition of FoxEducation, Sdui Group now serves 22,000 educational institutions; FoxEducation’s FoxApps (SchoolFox, KidsFox, TeamFox) were used by over 9,000 institutions in the DACH region. The company says it will invest part of the newly raised funds into the FoxEducation acquisition and to further develop its offerings, including payment management tools such as FoxPay. Financially, Sdui now has a total of €46M available for investment, combining the recent €21M round with a prior €25M Series A. Sdui Group builds a digital schools operating system offering communication and diary tools that let institutions stay in touch with children, parents and teachers. The company pitches its product as a digital operating system for virtual school workflows and aims to scale across Europe. More than 10,000 institutions across seven European markets, including Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, use Sdui's back-end software. Founded in 2018 and based in Germany, the scale-up reported revenue growth of more than 300 percent since its initial Series A in March 2021. Management says the extended funding will support Sdui's ambitions to continue scaling in Europe and further develop its platform. Sdui provides a central communication platform on which teachers, students and parents can exchange information in a GDPR-compliant manner. The solution delivers timetables, substitution schedules, letters to parents and announcements via a smartphone app or on desktop. Its cloud digitizes class registers, room bookings and supports other integrations. The company was founded by Daniel Zacharias (22) and Jan Micha Kroll (21) and is based in Koblenz, Germany. The app is already being used by around 1,000 schools throughout Germany and Sdui employs a team of more than 30 people. Financially, Sdui extended its seed financing to around €2m in a seed round extension involving new and existing investors.

Led · Debt Financing · Jan 2023

FINBOURNE builds a SaaS-based, cloud-native data management platform (LUSID) that delivers front-to-back functionality across portfolio management, fund accounting, order management, compliance and more. Its interoperable platform embeds entitlements, data lineage and utilisation metrics to democratise data and tackle fragmentation across the investment lifecycle. The platform exposes a network of data and functions for AI and ML ecosystems, positioning clients to capture upcoming AI-driven efficiencies. Over the last 12 months FINBOURNE has announced new client wins including Northern Trust, Omba Advisory and the Pension Insurance Corporation. The company says its solutions help investment and operations teams increase revenue, reduce costs and better manage risk. FINBOURNE’s go-to-market strategy and client roster have attracted investor interest, supporting continued expansion of its client base and product footprint. Finbourne builds a data platform that helps financial services and insurance firms organize and operationalize their data for AI and other models. Its product suite includes the LUSID Operational Data Store, investment and accounting books of record, a portfolio management platform that tracks positions, cash, P&L and exposure, and a data virtualization tool. The company also helps clients manage data for training models and expects to become more involved in that area. Finbourne positions itself as an alternative to in-house systems, targeting firms that prefer a single external platform rather than building bespoke tooling. Customers cited include Fidelity International, the London Stock Exchange Group, Baillie Gifford, Northern Trust and the Pension Insurance Corporation. The company competes with incumbents such as BlackRock’s Aladdin, SimCorp, State Street Alpha, GoldenSource, Broadridge, Enfusion, SS&C Eze and others. Finbourne Technology provides LUSID, a cloud-native, API-centric financial data stack that ingests and translates multiple complex datasets to simplify investment data management. The platform serves the investment industry from hedge funds to global institutions and aims to lower the cost and complexity of investment data processes. The company plans to extend its value proposition beyond investment management into banking and capital markets and to release new SaaS capabilities across portfolio and fund accounting to support asset servicers' digital transformation. Finbourne has expanded globally, opening offices in New York and Singapore to enable a 24/7 follow-the-sun support model and to target local opportunities. The company grew headcount nearly 50% in 2022 and now has over 190 employees worldwide. It recently secured a £30M debt facility to fund its expansion and product roadmap.