Participated · Series B · May 2024

Pheon Therapeutics is an Antibody‑Drug Conjugate (ADC) specialist based in Harpenden, near London, developing next‑generation ADCs targeting hard‑to‑treat cancers. Its pipeline employs novel targets and novel linker‑payload combinations, with a lead program described as a first‑in‑class ADC against a target highly overexpressed across multiple solid tumor types. The company is led by CEO Cyrus Mozayeni, MD. Pheon expects to start its first Phase 1 clinical trial in 2024 and rapidly advance toward dose‑expansion cohorts. It closed a $120M Series B to fund clinical proof‑of‑concept work and to expand its suite of in‑house technology platforms to generate optimized ADC constructs. Pheon Therapeutics, based in London, is developing a pipeline of antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) as monotherapies against novel targets and with novel payloads. The company's lead program is described as a first-in-class ADC against a novel target that is highly expressed in solid tumors across a broad range of hard-to-treat cancer types. Pheon highlights ADCs' potential to treat solid tumors and liquid cancers that have not responded to other treatments. It intends to use the funds to advance its lead ADC program to clinical proof-of-concept and to establish a broader pipeline of novel ADCs. The company is led by CEO Bertrand Damour and CSO Leigh Zawel, and its board includes partners from Atlas Venture, Brandon Capital, Forbion and Research Corporation Technologies.

Led · Series A · Jan 2024

S2 Genomics develops and sells the Singulator, a benchtop platform that automates reproducible, rapid tissue dissociations into single cell or nuclei suspensions for single cell genomics. The Singulator platform comprises a benchtop instrument, single-use consumables, and more than 80 validated protocols for preparing samples from different tissue types. Customers use nuclei and high-viability cell suspensions produced by the Singulator to advance neuroscience and oncology research. Since its first commercial launch in 2020, the Singulator has been adopted globally by academic research organizations, pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms and service providers. Management states the platform removes a major bottleneck for conducting single cell genomics research and enables more scientists to process more samples. The company is based in Livermore, California and recently completed a Series A financing to support commercial growth and new applications for the platform.

Led · Series A · Jul 2023

iotaMotion is a medical technology company based in St. Paul, MN, focused on advancing cochlear implantation with robotic-assisted solutions. Its flagship product, the iotaSOFT® Insertion System, provides controlled electrode array insertion intended to reduce intracochlear trauma compared with manual insertions. After its first full year of commercialization the system is installed at 25 U.S. centers, including use in ten neurotology fellowship programs. Some centers using the technology have demonstrated 20% year-over-year cochlear implant program growth versus a 7% market average. The company plans to use recently secured Series B funding to scale commercial operations and continue product innovation in 2025. The Series B round also accompanied an expansion of the board with the addition of Jeff Hopkins, a medical-technology leader with 30 years of experience. iotaMotion develops advanced robotic-assisted technologies for cochlear implant surgery, including the iotaSOFT® Insertion System. Led by CEO Mike Lobinsky, the company aims to standardize cochlear implant electrode array insertion and provide greater control in surgical settings. The firm intends to use its recent financing to accelerate commercial expansion of the iotaSOFT Insertion System. iotaMotion describes its products as advancing cochlear implant surgery beyond human capability with the goal of expanding access for surgeons and patients. The company is also expanding its Scientific Advisory Board with additions including Bruce Gantz, MD; Professor Thomas Lenarz, MD, PhD; and Camille Dunn, PhD to support continued product innovation. iotaMotion is a medical device startup spun out from the University of Iowa’s Otolaryngology Department that is developing iotaSOFT, a robotic-assisted insertion device for cochlear implant electrodes. Led by President and co-founder Chris Kaufmann, MD, the device is intended to allow surgeons to advance electrodes with the control and precision of robotics. The company completed an iotaSOFT human-factors usability study in July with participation from cochlear implant surgeons in a simulated-use clinical environment. iotaMotion raised an additional $2.52M in a second funding round and said the backers remained undisclosed. It intends to use the funds for ongoing development and commercialization of iotaSOFT and is focused on achieving development and regulatory milestones. Completion of the usability study was described as a significant milestone on the path toward FDA submission of the technology. iotaMotion is developing robotic-assisted systems to improve cochlear implant surgery, with its lead product IOTA-Soft™ enabling controlled, precise electrode insertion. The company plans to use recent funding to accelerate development of these novel robotic systems. IOTA-Soft™ is designed to reduce surgical variability and help protect inner-ear structures during insertion. iotaMotion was spun out of the University of Iowa’s Otolaryngology Department and aims to deliver individualized solutions for patients with hearing loss. The company has also been awarded NSF and NIH SBIR grants totaling $1.7M, which support its development work.

Participated · Series C · Jul 2022

Halo Labs is a Burlingame, CA-based life science instrumentation and consumable company led by CEO Rick Gordon. It commercializes the Aura platform for high-throughput aggregate, visible and subvisible particle analysis used in biopharmaceutical formulation, stability testing, and product quality control. The technology uses custom optics and image-processing techniques to perform optical imaging on membranes, providing researchers insights into aggregates and subvisible particles present in drug products. The company closed a $6M Series C growth financing led by Agilent Technologies, with participation from Research Corporation Technologies, Broad Oak Capital Partners, and BioAdvance. Halo Labs intends to use the proceeds to continue commercialization of the Aura platform, increase manufacturing capacity, and develop new products to meet current and emerging needs of pharmaceutical researchers. Halo Labs, led by CEO Robert Wicke and based in Burlingame, Calif., develops scientific instrumentation and consumables for biologics researchers. It commercializes high-throughput biopharmaceutical formulation and quality-control tools for subvisible particle (SVP) analysis using custom optics and image-processing techniques. Its Horizon® instrument performs high-throughput SVP analysis with volumes as low as 25 µL and uses a 96-well membrane plate to test several parameters quickly without dilution or sample preparation. The company closed a $12M Series B1 financing to support growth. Halo intends to use the funds to expand its worldwide sales presence, continue development of its next-generation product portfolio, and acquire complementary technologies and companies to expand into the analytical particle space. Halo Labs develops the Horizon® instrument, which enables high-throughput, low-volume subvisible particle analysis for biologics researchers using sample volumes as low as 25 µL. The company focuses on tools for biologics researchers and is commercializing instruments that perform subvisible particle analysis at scale. Halo intends to use recent funding to commercialize Horizon and to continue development of its broader product pipeline. Leadership includes CEO Robert Wicke; the company also named Dr. Joseph Keegan Executive Chairman of the Board. Financially, Halo completed a $5.6M Series B financing to support commercialization and product development efforts. The company is based in San Francisco, CA.

Participated · Series C · Apr 2022

seqWell develops library preparation products for demanding genomics applications, highlighted by its plexWell platform. plexWell enables simple, scalable multiplexing of hundreds to thousands of samples without time- and cost-consuming sample preparation or library normalization steps. The company is focused on commercializing and expanding its portfolio of genomics workflow and library-preparation products. To accelerate those efforts, seqWell entered a strategic partnership with Codexis to apply Codexis’ CodeEvolver® platform for enzyme optimization. The collaboration is intended to harness optimized enzyme-based solutions to improve the speed and accuracy of sequencing applications. Financially, the company completed a $7 million Series C as part of this commercialization push. seqWell offers a multiplexed solution for preparing next-generation sequencing (NGS) libraries from hundreds to thousands of samples without normalization or extra equipment. Its product offerings target growing markets such as high-throughput low-pass sequencing and targeted genotyping. The company intends to expand its genomics product portfolio into new areas including single-cell genomics and transcriptomics. seqWell said it will use the Series B proceeds to grow operations and support that expansion. In January 2020 the company appointed genomics industry entrepreneur Paul McEwan as Board Chairman; McEwan co-founded Kapa Biosystems and Agencourt Bioscience and previously served as Vice President, Lifecycle Leader at Roche Sequencing Solutions. The company is based in Beverly, Mass.