The Venture Codex

Led · Series C · Jan 2017

Ordergroove builds a subscription-as-a-service platform that enables brands and retailers to create recurring purchase and membership experiences outside of Amazon. Its tech stack includes integrations with Salesforce, Magento, Shopify and major payments systems so merchants can plug subscriptions into existing commerce stacks. The company is expanding beyond core subscriptions into features such as prepay subscriptions, additional analytics, and voice-enabled low-click reorder flows to increase lifetime value. Ordergroove serves nearly 500 customers, including Walmart, Nestlé, L’Oréal, The Honest Company, La Colombe and PetSmart. Management declined to disclose revenue or profitability but said it had plenty of cash on hand; platform gross merchandise value is growing at about 60% and customer retention is close to 90%. CEO Greg Alvo emphasizes driving lifetime value as the central focus of the product roadmap. OrderGroove provides SaaS-based subscription and frictionless commerce tools that let brands and retailers sell directly to customers with capabilities similar to those used by online marketplaces. The company initially focused on subscription commerce — enabling recurring payments and “set it and forget it” workflows — and has hundreds of brands and retailers as paying customers, including Walmart, Toys R’ Us, PetSmart, Nestlé, L’Oréal and GNC. Founded in 2010 and led by CEO and founder Greg Alvo, OrderGroove is expanding beyond subscriptions into frictionless technologies such as chatbots, Dash-style instant ordering, voice interfaces and ideas modeled on Prime Now. The company says it is testing multiple services and is especially focused on chatbots for personalized ordering. OrderGroove keeps customer data in siloed, anonymized form and does not currently combine data across customers or ingest external data. Financially, the company has raised a total of $37 million to date after the latest round and did not disclose a valuation. OrderGroove is a New York–based provider of subscription and membership commerce solutions. Led by founder and CEO Greg Alvo, the company offers a SaaS platform that helps brands identify and interact with new and existing customers. Its platform is designed to increase sales, build customer retention, maximize lifetime value, and reduce customer defection rates. Clients cited include Grainger, L’Oreal, Jockey, NBTY, Freshpair and Lot18. The company plans to use the new capital to introduce new products and services, hire key personnel across engineering, services, sales and marketing, and expand into new verticals and channels. Financially, OrderGroove completed a Series B round of more than $6.7M.

Participated · Equity · Apr 2013

Celator Pharmaceuticals is developing CPX-351, a liposomal formulation of cytarabine:daunorubicin, as its lead investigational product for acute myeloid leukemia. The company’s CombiPlex platform locks synergistic molar drug ratios in nano-scale delivery vehicles and underpins a pipeline that includes CPX-1 (irinotecan:floxuridine) in colorectal cancer and preclinical CPX-571. Celator is conducting an enrolling Phase 3, 300-patient randomized study in 60–75 year-old patients with secondary AML with overall survival as the primary endpoint. The company completed a private placement of common stock and warrants that raised aggregate proceeds of $39.3 million (including $6.8 million from prior closings) and $32.5 million in the final close. Proceeds from the financing are expected to fully fund the currently enrolling Phase 3 clinical study. Celator has locations in Princeton, NJ and Vancouver, BC. Celator Pharmaceuticals develops liposome-based cancer therapies, with lead candidate CPX-351 for acute myeloid leukemia. CPX-351 has been granted orphan drug status by the U.S. FDA, providing seven years of U.S. market exclusivity and potential regulatory incentives. The company reported positive randomized phase 2b data showing a statistically significant overall survival benefit in first-relapse AML patients with an unfavorable risk profile. Its pipeline also includes CPX-1 for colorectal cancer (phase 2) and preclinical CPX-571 for small cell lung cancer. Celator’s nanoparticle delivery system was developed in conjunction with Princeton University and remains in early-stage research. The company has offices in Princeton, New Jersey, and Vancouver, British Columbia, and is balancing clinical development with ongoing fundraising. Celator Pharmaceuticals is developing new therapies to treat cancer, with a lead investigational product focused on acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Its lead product is CPX-351 (Cytarabine:Daunorubicin) Liposome Injection. CPX-351 is based on CombiPlex®, Celator’s proprietary drug ratio technology platform and has been granted orphan drug status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company said it will use new capital to support completion of ongoing clinical trials and activities related to advancing CPX-351. Celator is based in Princeton, NJ and also operates offices in Vancouver, BC. The company raised $20M in a Series D private equity financing to fund these activities. Celator Pharmaceuticals focuses on combining two existing chemotherapy drugs into single, fixed-ratio formulations intended to enhance tumor killing while minimizing overlapping toxicities. Its lead candidate, CPX-1 (a 1:1 molar combination of irinotecan and floxuridine), is in mid-stage human trials, and CPX-351 (cytarabine plus daunorubicin) is entering a phase I trial for acute myeloid leukemia. An earlier phase I test of CPX-1 in 26 patients produced 15 cases of tumor stabilization for at least two months and two instances of tumor shrinkage, but that trial was non-randomized, uncontrolled and not blinded. Coverage questioned the company’s framing of “clinical benefit,” noting 17/26 equals 65% and that three patients were unevaluated (one surviving less than two weeks). Financially, the company recently raised $10 million and previously completed a $40 million second funding in 2005. Investors named in coverage of the recent follow-on include Domain Associates, Quaker BioVentures, TL Ventures, Ventures West Management, GrowthWorks Capital, the Business Development Bank of Canada and Hearthstone Investment.

Led · Series C · Jul 2011

Coronado Biosciences, based in New York, focuses on novel immunotherapy agents for inflammatory diseases and cancer. Its pipeline includes CNDO-201, an oral natural immunomodulator that regulates T-cells and inflammatory cytokines and is being developed for Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and multiple sclerosis. The company’s anti-cancer candidate CNDO-109 primes natural killer cells without IL-2 and has shown Phase I clinical results in AML and preclinical activity in multiple myeloma, breast, prostate and ovarian cancers. Proceeds from the financing will fund a Phase II study of CNDO-201 for Crohn’s disease and a Phase I/II study of CNDO-109 for relapsed acute myeloid leukemia. Coronado was founded in 2006 and is led by President and CEO Bobby W. Sandage, Jr., PhD. Coronado Biosciences focuses on oncology drug development, with a lead biologic candidate CNDO-109 that activates natural killer (NK) cells harvested from close relatives or the patient. CNDO-109 is intended as a therapy for a wide range of difficult-to-treat blood and solid tumor cancers. The company planned to use proceeds from its 2010 financings to fund development activities for CNDO-109, including initiation of a Phase 2 clinical trial in the US in patients with advanced acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Proceeds were also earmarked for general corporate purposes and working capital. Coronado is based in New York, NY, and announced management additions to support clinical development and operations.