Led · Series E · Oct 2023

Bizongo, founded in 2015 and headquartered in Mumbai, operates a B2B platform focused on digital vendor management, supply chain automation, and supply chain financing for enterprise customers across fashion & lifestyle, pharmaceuticals, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples. The company positions its software as an AI-powered vendor digitization and embedded financing platform. Bizongo serves roughly 450–500 enterprise customers and has tied up with over 40 banks and non-bank financial companies to provide unsecured financing to vendors. In October 2023 Bizongo raised $50 million in a Series E, bringing its total capital raised to $260 million. The articles list the company's website as https://www.bizongo.com/ and record the fundraising under Smartpaddle Technology Pvt. Ltd. Bizongo is an Indian tech-enabled B2B platform for made-to-order goods that digitizes vendor management and supply chains. Founded in 2015 by IIT graduates Aniket Deb, Sachin Agrawal, and Ankit Tomar, the company focuses on packaging, textiles, apparel and other contract manufacturing goods. It offers packaging, apparels, agri products and more across industries such as consumer durables, fashion and lifestyle, textiles, pharmaceuticals, home and personal care. Bizongo operates proprietary digital platforms — Procure Live, Partner Hub and Artwork Flow — to deliver digital vendor management, supply chain automation and supply chain financing to enterprise customers. The platform has a network of over 6,300 partner factories and services more than 450 enterprise customers. The B2B e-commerce platform integrates with customers' end-to-end supply chain processes to deliver agility and transparency across the value chain. Bizongo is one of the largest business-to-business online marketplaces for packaging needs in India, serving businesses across industries. It operates a marketplace to identify, buy and sell material packaging solutions and also offers in-house packing design, development and procurement services. The company emphasizes a “100% availability of packaging material and no-stock-outs at very low inventory,” which it says reduces packaging procurement costs by 2–5% and improves production planning for supply partners. Bizongo works with more than 750 manufacturers, has delivered 290 million packaging units to date, and claims to have served over 350 brands; its customers span leading e-commerce, retail and FMCD industries. Management says it has seen a significant improvement in operating metrics since the last round and plans to use new funds to ramp up technology infrastructure, expand into sectors such as pharma packaging, and grow its presence in India. Bizongo operates a B2B technology marketplace that curates and on-boards SME packaging-material manufacturers and provides one-stop packaging solutions including boxes, containers, pouches, and bags. The company targets industries such as food & hospitality, FMCG, retail & wholesale, and e-commerce and counts clients including Myntra, Tata Cliq, and FirstCry. Bizongo says it has more than 2,500 registered SMEs and maintains warehouses in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi. Founded in 2015 by Aniket Deb, Ankit Tomar, and Sachin Agrawal (IIT alumni), the startup is Mumbai-based and owner-operated by Smartpaddle Technology Pvt. Ltd. It will use the fresh capital primarily to advance its technological platform and design functions. Smartpaddle Technology Pvt. Ltd. operates Bizongo, a Mumbai-based B2B marketplace that sells packaging products such as boxes, containers, pouches and bags to industries including food & hospitality, FMCG, retail & wholesale and e-commerce. The company was founded in April 2014 by Aniket Deb, Ankit Tomar and Sachin Agrawal, who are alumni of IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay. Bizongo reports that over 50% of its monthly revenues come from repeat customers. The startup plans to use new funding to expand its seller base, build automation, improve its supply chain and strengthen technology and operations teams. It is also looking to partner with large corporates, especially in retail and manufacturing, to handle procurement end-to-end. The company competes with other B2B marketplaces such as Industrybuying, Tolexo, BazarA2Z, Alliedhunt and Moglix.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2022

ImmunOs Therapeutics leverages an HLA-based technology platform to develop first-in-class therapeutics targeting cancer and autoimmune diseases. Its lead program, IOS-1002, is a multi-functional HLA-fusion protein that binds specific LILRB and KIR receptors to stimulate both the innate and adaptive immune systems. The company is developing IOS-1002 as a cancer therapeutic intended to eliminate tumor cells and is also exploring different modalities to agonize receptors for autoimmune disease modulation. ImmunOs is advancing IOS-1002 through a Phase Ia dose-escalation clinical trial as a monotherapy and in combination with MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab). The company is led by Executive Chairman Reinhard Ambros and is based in Schlieren, Switzerland. ImmunOs Therapeutics AG leverages an HLA-based technology platform to develop first-in-class therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Its lead program, IOS-1002 (formerly iosH2), is a multi-functional fusion protein based on a naturally occurring HLA that targets LILRB1, LILRB2 and KIR3DL1 and synergizes with the adaptive immune system to drive anti-tumor activity. A Phase 1 clinical trial for IOS-1002 is planned to start in the second half of 2022, and the company intends to progress the program through Phase 2. ImmunOs is also developing antibodies to block activation of specific HLA proteins associated with autoimmune diseases and is advancing additional oncology and autoimmune programs toward clinical development. The company has established a U.S. subsidiary to expand its international reach, execute future U.S. clinical trials, and strengthen transatlantic operations and team. ImmunOs Therapeutics AG is a Swiss biotechnology company developing a new class of HLA-based biologic therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Its proprietary R&D platform creates HLA-based therapeutics that address multiple targets via a single fusion protein; the company's lead program is a multifunctional fusion protein that blocks specific LILRB receptors to activate anti-tumor responses. ImmunOs is also developing a novel HLA‑open conformer‑specific monoclonal antibody, OCi, intended to treat immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and to act upstream of current therapies. The company plans in vivo proof-of-concept studies in spondyloarthritis and intends to extend OCi development to psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease following successful results. Research is being conducted through an international consortium with ProteoGenix SAS (optimizing phage display for HLA mAb development) and Amsterdam UMC (providing animal models and clinical expertise). ImmunOs has received public funding from the EU’s Eurostars-2 programme and the Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse and is supported by investors including Pfizer Ventures, BioMed Partners and Redalpine. ImmunOs Therapeutics AG develops novel human immunomodulatory proteins that act on the innate immune system to activate anti-tumor responses. Its lead program is the iosH platform, with lead agent iosH2 being advanced as a potential treatment for both solid and liquid tumors. The company’s approach builds on research into HLA open conformer modulation of immune cells and targets diverse immunoregulatory receptors to modulate the tumor microenvironment. ImmunOs plans to complete first-in-human trials of iosH2 and to broaden the iosH platform by advancing additional preclinical programs in cancer and auto-immunity. The company is a spin-off of the University of Zurich and the University of Basel. Leadership includes CEO Sean R. Smith and CSO and co-founder Dr. Osiris Marroquin Belaunzaran, and the company states its mission is to develop novel therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with serious disease. ImmunOs Therapeutics AG is a Swiss biotechnology spin-off of the University of Zurich and University of Basel developing a next-generation platform of multitasking human immunomodulatory proteins for cancer. Its lead clinical candidate is a single multitasking protein agent aimed at treating solid tumors. The platform targets diverse immunoregulatory receptors to activate anti-tumor responses, working directly on the innate immune system (MDSCs, macrophages, NK cells and neutrophils) and indirectly on the adaptive system by enabling T cell expansion. ImmunOs positions its proteins for use both as monotherapy and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (PD-1, CTLA-4, PD-L1) and costimulatory agonists (e.g., 4-1BB). The team brings experience in drug development and global commercialization in immunotherapy, immunology, and oncology. Proceeds from the announced financing will be used to advance the lead clinical candidate.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2022

HAYA Therapeutics develops programmable, RNA-guided therapies that target regulatory long non-coding RNAs to reprogram pathological cell states. Its core product approach maps and decodes the regulatory genome using multimodal functional genomics and proprietary computational and machine-learning methods. The company’s lead candidate, HTX-001, is a first-in-class lncRNA-targeting therapy in development for heart failure, initially focused on non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (nHCM). HAYA plans to initiate clinical trials for HTX-001 and to expand its pipeline across pulmonary fibrosis, obesity and other age-related and chronic diseases. The company has also formed strategic collaborations, including a partnership with Eli Lilly focused on RNA-based targets for obesity and metabolic disorders. HAYA is headquartered at the Biopôle life sciences park in Lausanne, Switzerland, with laboratory facilities in San Diego. HAYA Therapeutics develops programmable RNA-guided regulatory genome targeting therapeutics that act on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to reprogram pathological cell states. Its lead candidate, HTX-001, is in development for the treatment of heart failure, and the company is advancing a pipeline of lncRNA-targeting precision therapies for other tissues and indications. HAYA positions its platform to address rare, common, chronic and age-associated diseases and is extending its work into oncology. The company received an Innosuisse Certificate for Sustainable Growth and 1.5M CHF (approximately $1.64M USD) in non-dilutive funding to support translational studies over the next two years. Those funds will be used to develop a therapy targeting cancer-associated fibroblast-specific lncRNA for aggressive solid tumors. HAYA is headquartered at Biopôle in Lausanne, Switzerland, and maintains laboratory facilities at JLABS @ San Diego. HAYA Therapeutics develops a proprietary regulatory genome discovery platform that identifies tissue-, disease- and cell-specific long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) targets and enables RNA-targeting therapies. The platform is positioned to reprogram disease-driving cell states with the aim of delivering therapies that may have better efficacy and less toxicity than current treatments. HAYA is applying this full-stack platform to discovery and validation of lncRNA targets for obesity and related metabolic disorders. Under a multi-year collaboration with Eli Lilly, the partners will identify, characterize, and validate multiple regulatory genome-derived RNA-based drug targets. The company will receive an upfront payment that includes an equity investment and stands to earn milestone payments and royalties if programs progress. HAYA’s immediate plans center on preclinical drug discovery work within the collaboration to generate candidate targets and advance them toward development. HAYA Therapeutics is a Biopôle-based Swiss startup developing precision medicines and lncRNA-targeting anti-fibrotics using its proprietary DiscoverHAYA drug discovery engine. The company has established a new laboratory at JLABS @ San Diego while maintaining its main headquarters and laboratory facilities in Lausanne. HAYA will use the new funding to grow its team in Switzerland and San Diego and to advance its lead therapeutic candidate that targets a driver of cardiac fibrosis. The lead therapy is being developed to treat non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an orphan indication with limited treatment options. Financially, HAYA closed a $5 million seed extension that brings the total seed financing to approximately $25 million. HAYA Therapeutics develops precision genomic medicines that target tissue- and cell-specific long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to prevent and reverse fibrosis and other age-related conditions. Its proprietary DiscoverHAYA™ drug discovery engine generates a pipeline of lncRNA-targeting anti-fibrotics for organs including heart, lung, kidney, liver and the tumor microenvironment. The lead program is an antisense oligonucleotide targeting the cardiac-enriched lncRNA Wisper, which in preclinical studies at Lausanne University Hospital demonstrated the ability to halt and potentially reverse cardiac fibrosis. HAYA secured an exclusive license from CHUV for the Wisper asset and is preparing to initiate clinical trials in non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The company is headquartered at the Biopôle life sciences park in Lausanne, Switzerland and is led by a team of lncRNA and fibrosis experts. The CHF 18 million seed financing will be used to advance discovery and development of its organ- and cell-selective therapeutic programs.

Participated · Series C · May 2021

Tessian provides machine‑learning driven human‑layer security designed to predict and stop advanced email threats caused by human error, such as data exfiltration, accidental data loss, business email compromise and phishing. The platform operates with minimal disruption to employee workflows. The company says it will use the new funding to expand its platform beyond email to secure other interfaces, including messaging, web and collaboration platforms. Tessian is led by CEO and co‑founder Tim Sadler. Founded in 2013, the company has offices in London, San Francisco and Boston. Prior backers include Sequoia, Accel, March Capital and Balderton Capital. Tessian applies machine learning to model individual employee email behavior and automatically flag or stop risky patterns indicative of phishing, data exfiltration, or other social-engineering attacks. The product is positioned as a replacement for legacy secure email gateways and data loss prevention solutions, with capabilities designed to protect the human layer in enterprise email. Tessian reported around 350 global customers across legal, financial services, healthcare and technology, and said it tripled its Fortune 500-level customer base over the past year. The company plans to expand beyond email to provide protections for messaging, web and collaboration platforms. New funding will be used to expand platform capabilities and grow the team — Tessian plans to triple headcount with particular emphasis on expanding its North America sales organization. The startup was founded in 2013 and is U.K.-based. Tessian’s core product is a machine-learning security platform that analyzes historical email data to understand normal communication patterns and detect anomalies that indicate threats like spear phishing and misdirected emails. The company serves a global customer base across legal, financial, technology and healthcare sectors, with customers including Clifford Chance, Dentons, Schroders, Investec and Rightmove. Led by CEO and co-founder Tim Sadler, Tessian aims to reduce human-related enterprise email vulnerabilities. The company raised $42m in a Series B to support growth. Tessian plans to use the funds to accelerate expansion in the U.S. and other global markets and to invest in R&D to expand its product line in 2019. Tessian develops machine-intelligence software that protects enterprises' email by learning normal and abnormal sending patterns and warning users about anomalous outgoing messages before they are sent. After installation its technology analyzes enterprise email networks to detect anomalies and prevent mistakes or breaches. The company serves customers including Schroders, Man Group and Dentons, and over 70 of the UK's leading law firms use the platform. Tessian has a team of about 50 people. It plans to use the new funding to expand its product offering and grow the business by increasing the size of its sales and marketing teams.

Participated · Series A · Nov 2020

Synendos Therapeutics is developing first-in-class inhibitors that modulate a newly identified drug target in the endocannabinoid system to restore endogenous cannabinoid levels suppressed in certain pathological conditions. The company is focused on Central Nervous System (CNS) indications, including anxiety, mood and stress-related disorders, and is advancing programs toward PTSD proof-of-mechanism studies. Proceeds from the Series A extension will be used to complete preclinical development and to advance the lead drug candidate through safety and proof-of-concept clinical studies. Synendos is on track to start IND-enabling studies in 2021 as it works toward a clinical inflection point. The company also secured a two-year Eurostars grant (EndoCARE) to expand preclinical PTSD studies and to explore potential biomarkers for early clinical trials. Professor Jutta Heim was appointed Chair of the Board, and the company announced these developments from Basel, Switzerland. Synendos Therapeutics is developing first-in-class selective endocannabinoid reuptake inhibitors (SERIs) that modulate a newly identified drug target to restore endogenous cannabinoid levels in the CNS. The company’s approach aims for a self-limiting mechanism of action that could offer a potentially safer therapy for anxiety, mood and stress-related disorders. Synendos is currently in preclinical development and plans to use new financing to complete preclinical work and advance its lead candidate through safety and proof-of-concept studies toward early/initial clinical trials. The technology stems from about 10 years of research at the University of Bern led by Professor Jürg Gertsch and Dr Andrea Chicca. Led by co-founder and CEO Dr Andrea Chicca, Synendos was incorporated in April 2019 and spun out of the University of Bern and the NCCR TransCure research consortium. The company has been part of BaseLaunch from inception through its Series A financing.