Natural Capital Investment Fund
106 W Washington St, 2nd Floor, Charles Town, WV, 25414, United States
Overview
The Natural Capital Investment Fund Providing loans and technical assistance to support small businesses that have a big impact. NCIFund is a Maryland nonstock corporation that is a 501(c)(3) organization and a certified Community Development Financial Institution. It is recognized as a supporting organization to The Conservation Fund under the Internal Revenue Code. It supports entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and businesses in underserved communities in central Appalachia and the Southeast. By providing flexible capital and advisory services to small businesses, agricultural enterprises, and community organizations, they catalyze environmentally and socially responsible business development and wealth creation in the rural, minority, and low-wealth communities.
- Total investments
- 1
- Lead investments
- 0
- Investments · 12mo
- 0
- Active investors
- 1
Sector focus
- Association
- Communities
- Financial Services
Investment portfolio
- Ashvattha Therapeutics
Participated · Series B · Apr 2022
Ashvattha Therapeutics is advancing a new class of clinical-stage nanomedicine therapeutics intended to traverse tissue barriers and selectively target and reprogram activated cells only in regions of inflammation. Its targeted nanomedicine approach aims to improve precision medicine across ophthalmology, neurology, and inflammation by enabling selective modulation of diseased tissue. The company’s at-home monthly subcutaneously administered HDT for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema demonstrated a substantial reduction in treatment burden in interim data. Ashvattha is currently conducting an ongoing Phase 2 ophthalmology trial and a Phase 1/2 neuroinflammation trial and intends to use newly raised funds to complete those studies. Interim Phase 2 trial results will be presented by the principal investigator at the Angiogenesis 2025 meeting on February 8, 2025. The company was founded by Kannan Rangaramanujam, Sujatha Kannan, and Jeff Cleland and is based in Redwood City, California. Ashvattha develops hydroxyl dendrimer therapeutics (HDTs), a platform technology that chemically conjugates drugs to hydroxyl dendrimers to selectively target reactive inflammatory cells in diseased tissue. Its HDTs have demonstrated the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and blood-retinal barrier, enabling programs in neurology, ophthalmology and systemic inflammatory conditions. Clinical-stage candidates include OP-101 (N‑acetyl cysteine conjugate) in a Phase 2 PRANA study for severe COVID-19, D-4517.2 for ocular neovascular disease, and OP-801 as an HD imaging agent for neuroinflammation; Ashvattha planned additional Phase 2 and Phase 1/2 starts in 2022 for wet AMD/DME and ALS. The company licenses the underlying HD platform from founders at Johns Hopkins and positions its pipeline around disease-cell selective delivery to increase therapeutic index. Proceeds from the announced financing and licensing are intended to advance multiple clinical-stage programs and preclinical candidates.
Team
Larry Selzer
President and CEO
LinkedIn