Participated · Equity · Nov 2025

Solve Therapeutics is a San Diego-based, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating best-in-class antibody-drug conjugates for solid tumor malignancies. Its proprietary CloakLink™ linker platform is engineered to lower ADC hydrophobicity, improve pharmacokinetics, enhance plasma stability, and reduce toxicity, thereby expanding the therapeutic index of ADCs. The lead assets, SLV-154 and SLV-324, are both in Phase 1 clinical trials and are paired with novel diagnostic tools to enable precision patient selection. Founded by executives behind VelosBio and Acerta Pharma, the company aims to integrate therapeutic and diagnostic development for a more personalized oncology approach. The new financing lifts the firm’s total capital raised to $321 million, following a $75 million round closed in December 2024. Proceeds will fund completion of Phase 1b studies for both lead programs and broaden operational capabilities as the pipeline advances toward later-stage trials.

Participated · Equity · Feb 2018

Pelago operates a telehealth platform that delivers cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication-assisted treatment through physician-led care teams of physicians, nurses, counselors, and coaches. Its in-app telehealth features include video and audio calling, direct-to-therapist chat, virtual therapy sessions, and structured wellness checks; the company also offers PelagoRx for confidential prescriptions. Pelago partners with employers and health-plan providers rather than selling directly to consumers and has expanded services to include adolescents. The company plans to use new funding to bring on more users, advance clinical research, and develop additional products. Since its Series B, Pelago reports an 11x revenue surge, 100% client retention, and headcount growth from 50 to 150 full-time employees. Operational scale metrics cited include more than 100 enterprise customers across industries and over 750,000 registered users as of August 2023, along with an internal study claiming a $9,367 reduction in medical claims per participant and users five times more likely to quit smoking in one year. Quit Genius is a NYC-based digital clinic treating nicotine, alcohol and opioid addictions using Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). The company combines virtual behavioral therapy with approved medication and connected devices. Its platform is designed to help employers tackle the cost of addiction while improving employees' lives. Quit Genius integrates with health plans, pharmacy benefit managers and wellness platforms to deliver an implementation experience. Led by co-founder and CEO Yusuf Sherwani, M.D., the company will use the funds to fuel expansion of its platform in the U.S. It raised $64M in a Series B round reported by FinSMEs. Quit Genius offers a CBT-based mobile app and a paired breath-testing device to help users quit smoking and vaping through audio sessions, animated videos and interactive exercises. The company also sells an enterprise product that charges by engagement rather than per-employee and offers a 25% quit-rate guarantee. Quit Genius reports 15 enterprise clients and independent, peer-reviewed research showing more than 60,000 people have quit smoking with a reported 53% quit rate. The startup will use the new funding to expand its digital therapeutics into alcohol and opioid addiction treatment. Quit Genius has offered free access to new sign-ups through April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Founders Yusuf Sherwani, Maroof Ahmed and Sarim Siddiqui are doctors who built the product to prioritize efficacy. Quit Genius is a YC-backed mobile app built by doctors that applies cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help users quit smoking through audio sessions, animated videos, and interactive exercises. The company has expanded its product into modular "packs" for other addictive behaviors including alcohol, stress, motivation, and health, and plans packs for pregnancy, weight management, social pressure, and self‑esteem. Consumers are the primary focus, but Quit Genius is pursuing employer customers and has already signed an undisclosed tech giant. The team participates in scientific research: a JMIR mHealth paper found Quit Genius outperformed the NHS Smoke-free app, and an upcoming paper reported a 36% quit rate and a 59.6% reduction in cigarettes among participants. Since launch the company reports 300,000 registered users and over 20,000 people defined as smoke-free (28+ days); it aims for 100,000 smoke-free users by year‑end and will track progress publicly. Financially, the company recently closed an additional seed extension of $1.1M, bringing its seed round total to $2M. Quit Genius is a YC-backed mobile app that delivers cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help users quit smoking. The program is staged and uses animated videos, audio sessions, interactive exercises, a Smoking Diary, an on-demand Coping Toolbox, and a monitored community to identify triggers and change thoughts, feelings and behaviors. The app is subscription-based: a $4/month base plan and a $15/month Quit Genius Gold tier that includes one-on-one support from a qualified Quit Coach. An independent study by researchers at Imperial College London found 36% of participants who used Quit Genius quit smoking, and non-quitters reduced cigarette consumption by 69%. The article cites the U.S. market opportunity—about 40 million smokers, 70% of whom want to quit while only 3% are successful—and notes the company plans to apply its CBT approach to other addictions and lifestyle changes. The app is available on the App Store and Google Play, and the product was developed by founders Yusuf Sherwani, Maroof Ahmed, and Sarim Siddiqui from experiences in medical-school respiratory clinics.

Led · Series B · Oct 2014

Visterra is a clinical-stage biotech that uses its Hierotope® platform and ViStar™ Fc engineering to identify unique targets and design precision antibody-based therapies. Its lead product candidates include VIS410 (for hospitalized influenza A), VIS649 (for IgA nephropathy), VIS513 (dengue, developed with Serum Institute of India) and VIS705 (an ADC targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The company plans to advance VIS410 into a Phase 2b clinical trial and to initiate clinical trials for VIS649, while continuing to develop ViStar Fc modifications to extend antibody half-life and effector function. Visterra reported a Series C financing to support these development activities. Management highlighted several near-term clinical milestones, including top-line results from a VIS410 Phase 2a trial and initiation of VIS410 Phase 2b and VIS649 trials. The company is based in Cambridge, Mass. Visterra is a Cambridge, Mass.–based biotechnology company that uses its proprietary Hierotope™ Platform and Atomic Interaction Network (AIN) analysis to identify epitopes and design novel monoclonal antibody therapeutics. Its lead candidates include VIS410, a broad‑spectrum human monoclonal antibody for prevention and treatment of seasonal and pandemic influenza, and VIS513, a human monoclonal antibody that broadly neutralizes all four dengue virus serotypes. Proceeds from an upsized $30 million Series B will be used to advance multiple product candidates into the clinic, including moving VIS410 into Phase 2 trials and advancing VIS513 into the clinic. The company focuses on engineering antibodies to address polymorphism and mutational escape exhibited by infectious organisms. Visterra was founded based on scientific work developed in the laboratory of Dr. Ram Sasisekharan and licensed from MIT. Visterra discovers and develops novel monoclonal antibodies to prevent and treat major infectious diseases, with a lead candidate VIS410 targeting seasonal and pandemic influenza. The company uses a proprietary antibody engineering and network analysis technology to identify novel target epitopes and guide antibody design. Visterra plans to advance VIS410 into phase 1 clinical trials in 2014 and to build a broader pipeline of antibodies in infectious disease through internal programs and strategic partnerships. Financially, the company completed an upsized and final closing of its Series A, receiving $8.1 million in this closing and bringing total Series A proceeds to $34.2 million. Existing investors continue to back the company, and proceeds will be used to accelerate development and company growth. The company also expanded its executive team with appointments including a new CEO earlier in the year and recent hires for COO/CFO and VP of Business Development. Visterra discovers and develops novel antibodies to prevent and treat infectious and other major diseases. Its proprietary antibody discovery platform generates unique structural information to identify novel target epitopes and guide antibody design. The company’s lead product candidate, VIS410, is a broad‑spectrum monoclonal antibody for the prevention and treatment of seasonal and pandemic influenza. Proceeds from the financing will be used to further develop and validate Visterra’s technology platform and advance its infectious disease product pipeline. Visterra announced an antibody discovery collaboration with Pfizer in September 2012 and was founded based on the scientific work of Dr. Ram Sasisekharan at MIT. The company is backed by Polaris Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, Lux Capital, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Omega Funds and is based in Cambridge, Mass.

Participated · Series D · Feb 2011

HTG, Inc. is a Tucson, Arizona-based provider of molecular technology solutions led by CEO TJ Johnson. Its core product is the qNPA™ molecular technology platform and a multi-plex gene expression testing platform for miRNA and mRNA measurement, translational medicine and diagnostic applications. The qNPA platform is in use at major academic and cancer research centers as well as by big pharma. The company closed the first tranche of a $15.7M Series D financing to support its growth. HTG intends to use the funding to drive adoption of its testing platform for validation and clinical applications across different therapeutic areas and to expand into new high-growth molecular diagnostic opportunities. The company also plans to hire additional personnel in 2011, including sales and marketing, operations and development scientists with diagnostics experience.

Participated · Series E · Jan 2010

ImpactRx provides an intelligence database that tracks pharmaceutical promotional initiatives in real time and measures their effectiveness for clients. The company is based in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. It completed a $1.2m Series E financing, with the first tranche of $678,040 closed on December 23, 2009. Management said the additional funding, together with internally generated free cash flow, will be used to expedite product development and infrastructure improvements. ImpactRx also plans to upgrade its modeling capabilities. The company stated it is investing to accelerate its ability to deliver more value to clients.