Participated · Seed · Aug 2018

DNAlite Therapeutics is an early-stage, preclinical biotechnology company developing gastrointestinal gene therapies. The company is pursuing a gene therapy strategy to treat monogenetic gastrointestinal diseases by delivering a functional copy of the gene to patients' gastrointestinal epithelium using a proprietary delivery platform. Proceeds from a recent seed financing will be used to continue development of treatments for genetic intestinal diseases. DNAlite focuses on bringing next-generation drugs to organs protected by mucosal barriers and on addressing patient populations with limited therapeutic options. The company was founded in 2016 by UC Berkeley graduates Mubhij Ahmad and Timothy Day and is Berkeley-based. Recent additions to the team include Xixi Zhu (operations, cross-border fundraising and business development) and Dr. Cassandra Callmann (nanoparticle drug delivery) to help advance the pipeline.

Participated · Series B · Jan 2008

Rubicon Project is a Los Angeles-based display ad optimization platform that focuses on programmatic display advertising technology. It completed the purchase of parts of the Fox Audience Network from News Corp, acquiring primarily technology assets including an ad server, the MyAds self-service ad buying platform, targeting technology, and real-time bidding algorithms. The company took on about 100 of FAN’s technology employees as part of the deal; FAN’s third-party ad network was excluded. Concurrent with the acquisition, Rubicon raised $18 million from a group of strategic and venture investors. News Corporation acquired a minority stake in Rubicon as a result of the asset transfer plus cash. The company said it expects revenues to hit $100 million in 2010 and reported it reached profitability for the first time in October. Rubicon Project is an Internet advertising infrastructure company that provides ad-optimization technology for publishers and buyers. Based in Los Angeles, it serves more than 1,500 premium customers, including Gannett, CareerBuilder, Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive and YellowPages.com. The company's platform optimizes more than 45 billion ads each month across hundreds of demand sources. Recently the Rubicon Project acquired Others Online, an audience optimization company, and opened offices in London and Sydney. Management says the new funds will fuel business growth initiatives, including additional strategic acquisitions and international expansion. The company has increased its Series C financing by $9M, bringing total Series C investments to $42M. Rubicon Project is a Los Angeles-based ad optimization company that helps take ads from ad networks and place them on publishers' websites. Its software aims to help publishers fill available ad space with the highest-paying ads while enabling networks to run their ads across many publishers. Publishers it works with include The Washington Post, Gannett, USA Today, Salon, Slide and Buzznet. The company says its software can help premium news outlets increase revenue by up to 60% a year. Rubicon reported revenue growth of 150% in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2008. It plans to use new funding for strategic acquisitions, research and development, infrastructure and international expansion. Rubicon Project builds technology that helps websites find the best ad networks to partner with, aiming to optimize online advertising. The Los Angeles company raised $15 million in a second round of funding led by the Mayfield Fund. That round follows a $6 million first round in October, bringing total financing to $21 million. The article notes the company was profiled shortly after its first round, indicating early market interest. The piece does not disclose operating metrics or specific product roadmap details. The Rubicon Project is a Los Angeles-based Internet advertising technology company. The company announced a $6 million Series A to fund its operations. Investors in the round included Clearstone Venture Partners ($4 million) and Square1 Bank ($2 million). CEO and founder Frank Addante said Clearstone’s philosophies make them an ideal investment partner and noted Clearstone’s past successes. The company was named after the Italian river and idiom signifying a point of no return. The Rubicon Project planned to launch in private beta on October 8, 2007.