Participated · Series A · Oct 2021

Nelo is a consumer payments platform for online purchases in Mexico that offers an all-in-one app enabling customers to pay in installments at any online merchant through a partnership with Mastercard. The app finances everyday necessities like utility bills, cellular plans, and e-commerce purchases and is available on Android, iOS, and at merchant checkout. Nelo has powered more than 3 million purchases to date and serves customers at thousands of stores including Walmart, Mercado Libre, Telcel, and Amazon. The company was founded in 2019 by former Uber international growth team leads and employs 36 people representing eight different nationalities. Victory Park Capital provided a $100 million credit facility to support Nelo's expansion plans. The funding is intended to enable continued expansion and further focus on meeting customers' financing needs and improving the user experience. Nelo is a Mexico City-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup that offers a consumer mobile app alongside an embedded checkout experience for merchants. The company issued its first product in Mexico in January 2020, launched credit installment loans mid‑2020 and released an Android app in March 2021; it now has apps on both Android and iOS. Nelo is live with over 100 merchants, including Steve Madden and Ben & Frank, and customers can use its app to make purchases from merchants such as Amazon, Mercado Libre, Telcel, Netflix and Spotify. The company reports revenue and GMV growing 50% month over month and sees over 100,000 new purchases/transactions per month. Nelo has hubs in Mexico City and New York City, employs 23 people (up from 12 in January), and is focused 100% on Mexico while planning eventual expansion across Latin America. It plans to use the new capital to grow its consumer and merchant base and continue building its team. Nelo builds buy‑now‑pay‑later installment credit in Mexico, having launched its first product in January 2020 and pivoted to credit installment loans mid‑2020. Its offering connects directly with merchants (including Netflix and Spotify) and is used for purchases and bills, converting prepaid services to postpay. The company is live with more than 45 merchants and over 150,000 users, has lent about $2 million, and is growing roughly 20% month over month. Nelo launched via an Android app and plans a web app; it has about 14 employees with an engineering team in New York. The founders are former Uber international growth team leads and the company is hiring data scientists and engineers to improve underwriting and product competitiveness. Nelo emphasizes proprietary underwriting models and merchant relationships as its primary defensibility in a market with low credit‑card penetration.

Led · Equity · Jan 2018

Acticor Biotech is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing glenzocimab (ACT017), a humanized antibody fragment that targets platelet glycoprotein VI (GPVI) to inhibit thrombus growth while limiting bleeding risk. Preclinical and early evidence of antithrombotic efficacy and safety have been demonstrated ex vivo and in vivo. The company’s lead program is the Phase II ACTIMIS trial in acute ischemic stroke, which it plans to expand into the US following an encouraging pre-IND consultation with the FDA and an intended IND filing in the coming months. Acticor recently completed its Series B financing, bringing the round to €22.3M after an additional €7M equity raise. Concurrent with the financing close, Acticor acquired 100% of AVCare and secured worldwide sub-licensing rights from SATT Ouest Valorisation to develop and exploit a stroke blood biomarker. Leila Nicolas of Go Capital will join Acticor’s board as part of the transaction. Acticor Biotech is a clinical-stage biotechnology company spun off from INSERM focused on developing therapies for acute thrombotic diseases, including ischemic stroke and pulmonary embolism. Its lead candidate, ACT017, is a humanized antibody fragment (Fab) that targets platelet glycoprotein VI (GPVI) to inhibit thrombus growth while limiting bleeding risk. Evidence of ACT017's antithrombotic efficacy and safety of GPVI inhibition has been demonstrated ex vivo and in vivo. The company plans to advance ACT017 into its first Phase II clinical trial in acute ischemic stroke. The recent Series B financing will enable this Phase II and support additional clinical development in other indications. Acticor is headquartered in Paris and builds on research from its founders at INSERM and Paris-Sud University. Acticor Biotech is developing ACT017, a humanized fragment of a monoclonal antibody that binds the platelet receptor GPVI and inhibits platelet adhesion and aggregation on collagen and polymerized fibrin. The company is focused on treatments for the acute phase of thrombotic diseases, including ischemic stroke and pulmonary embolism. Acticor closed a €1.7m equity financing and also secured €2.2m in grants from the Concours Mondial de l’Innovation, for a total of €3.9m. The proceeds are intended to strengthen cash position in preparation for the company’s first clinical Phase II for ACT017. Acticor was founded in 2013 as a spin-off of Inserm and is led by Dr Gilles Avenard, and is based in Paris, France. Acticor Biotech is developing ACT‑017, a first‑in‑class anti‑thrombotic candidate that inhibits glycoprotein VI to prevent clot growth during ischemic strokes. ACT‑017 is intended for use alone or in combination with Alteplase® and aims to be safe from bleeding risk. In vitro and in vivo testing have confirmed previously published results and suggest the candidate could be administered shortly after symptoms appear. The company completed a €1.4 million capital increase to fund continued pre‑clinical development and to produce initial batches of ACT‑017. Management frames the emergency treatment of ischemic stroke as a major unmet need in Europe, affecting over 600,000 patients per year. The round was organized in part via the Anaxago crowdfunding platform, reflecting investor interest in the company’s stroke‑treatment development.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2016

Data Matrix developed Russia's first software for organizing and managing clinical trials in accordance with global standards. The company provides data-processing and biostatistics services and is building cloud-based clinical-trial software. Its solution is designed to accelerate drug and medical-device development while reducing errors, handling patient randomization, supply management, data collection and safety monitoring. Planned future modules will add financial tracking, quality control, project management and other features. Data Matrix is a resident of the Skolkovo biomed cluster and has completed more than 100 projects for major pharma and biotech clients, including Evalar, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. The startup recently secured ₽160M in investments to further develop the system and expand into foreign markets, with FRII providing the majority of the funding.