• Tetra Discovery

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2015

  Tetra Discovery Partners is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that discovers mechanistically novel, allosteric inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) using structure-guided drug design. Its portfolio targets Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders and includes BPN14770, which is in a Phase 1 multiple-ascending dose study in healthy older (age 60+) volunteers. The company reported receipt of two NIH grants: a $2.0M Phase 2b SBIR grant (AG054243) supporting the BPN14770 study and a $3.0M grant (MH091791) supporting its depression discovery program. Financially, Tetra raised $5.0M in Series A venture funding, with conversion of two debt rounds bringing total Series A financing to $7.27M. The Series A was co-led by the Apjohn Group and Grand Angels, with participation from Dolby Family Ventures, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and other private investors. Donald R. Parfet of Apjohn Group joined Tetra’s Board of Directors following the financing. The company is led by Chairman and CEO Mark E. Gurney, Ph.D., and is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a business office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tetra Discovery Partners is developing a platform of drug products to treat cognitive impairment, targeting a family of enzymes known as Type 4 phosphodiesterases (PDE4). Its lead candidate targets PDE4D and is being developed for cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia, with potential application for Huntington’s disease. The company is led by CEO and founder Dr. Mark Gurney. Tetra is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It closed a $1M funding round to accelerate development and prepare for clinical trials planned for Fall 2015. The financing signals early-stage support from regional angel and commercialization investors as the company moves toward first-in-human studies. Tetra Discovery Partners uses structure-guided drug design to discover mechanistically novel, allosteric inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4). Its research focuses on developing treatments for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The company intends to use the newly raised funds to support additional work aimed at filing its first Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a cognition drug candidate in 2015. Tetra maintains a business office at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is led by Chairman and CEO Mark Gurney, Ph.D. It is a recipient of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network cooperative research agreement, part of a $50 million program across 15 NIH Institutes and Centers. The company also announced the formation of a Scientific Advisory Board composed of senior industry R&D and neuroscience leaders. Tetra Discovery Partners is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company that designs new therapeutics for major neurological conditions by modulating phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) in the brain. Led by founder and CEO Mark Gurney, Ph.D., Tetra develops PDE4 inhibitors aimed at treating Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), depression and cognitive deficits from traumatic brain injury (TBI). The company intends to use recent seed funding to advance an innovative drug for cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s and a second program targeting depression and cognitive restoration after TBI. Tetra works with the NIH Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network, a $50m program across 15 NIH institutes and centers that supports drug discovery collaborations with early-stage biotechnology companies and academics. Financially, Tetra closed a $1,041,000 seed round and recently received a $3m Phase II SBIR award from the National Institute of Mental Health. The SBIR award was matched by funding from the Biosciences Research & Commercialization Center, the Michigan PreSeed Capital Fund and the Michigan Emerging Technology Fund.

• Sportsman Tracker

  Participated · Equity · Jan 2015

  Sportsman Tracker offers a mobile app that provides maps, hunting and fishing locations, ways to record field results, and a proprietary algorithm that predicts optimal times and places to hunt or fish. The app targets both hunters and fishers so it is used year-round rather than seasonally. The company says its algorithm generated more than 4 million predictions and the app saw 270,000 users during the 2014 hunting season; its user base previously hit 80,000. The company traces early support to Start Garden, which awarded founder Jeffrey Courter $5,000 in May 2013 and later invested $100,000 after the user milestone. Sportsman Tracker aims to scale its platform and become an outdoor-sports destination for a broad range of sportsmen. Its recent funding is intended to support scaling and market adoption.

• VNN

  Participated · Series A · Feb 2014

  Varsity News Network operates an online communication platform for high-school athletic departments, offering customized websites, mobile apps and an advertising network. The platform also produces media content targeting athletes and parents. It is used by more than 1,500 schools across 40 states. The company plans to use freshly raised capital for national expansion and to launch a mobile app. With the scheduled release of VNN 2.0 in early 2016, users will be able to create profiles to connect with families and teammates and upload and share content. Founded in 2011 by CEO Ryan Vaughn and based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the company recently closed a $3.7M funding round led by Arsenal Venture Partners. Varsity News Network (VNN) provides turnkey websites for high school athletic departments that aggregate player stats, dynamic schedules and rich media pulled from social channels. The product offers affordable, easily managed, data-rich sites that give all players visibility beyond local media coverage. VNN has grown to 250 schools in 14 states and says it supports hundreds of thousands of students and their families. The company is Grand Rapids, Mich.-based and was started just over two years ago. VNN raised an additional $3 million to scale nationwide and to launch its first app. Prior capital included $552K from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and a $1.09M partial close last February. Varsity is a Grand Rapids, Michigan–based news network that develops custom online publications covering high school sports. Launched in July 2010 through Momentum-MI, the network is a collaborative effort between traditional and community sports journalists. It aims to provide media coverage for every high school sport, from football to field hockey. The company says it will use the recent funding to expand its commercialization efforts. Varsity is actively hiring a Sales & Marketing Account Executive to support growth and monetization.

No current team members are available.