Iris Dorbian
2048 Ventures has raised $27 million for its inaugural fund, according to a blog post on its site. The New York City-based venture firm invests in founders creating B2B and B2C companies.
Pfizer has agreed to acquire Therachon, a biotech company focused on rare diseases, for $340 million upfront with an additional $470 million in contingent payments. Goldman Sachs is serving as financial adviser to Therachon on the deal with Cooley LLP and Homburger AG providing legal advice. And, Arnold & Porter and Lenz & Staehelin are serving as legal advisers to Pfizer. Therachon is backed by Novo Holdings, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Pfizer Ventures, Tekla Capital Management LLC, Versant Ventures, OrbiMed, Bpifrance and Inserm Transfert Initiative.
NextCure Inc, a biopharmaceutical company focused on treating cancer, has raised $75 million for its IPO after pricing its 5 million shares at $15 per share. The stock began trading May 9, 2019 on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "NXTC." Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Piper Jaffray & Co are the lead underwriters. NextCure's pre-IPO backers included OrbiMed, Sofinnova Investments, Hillhouse Capital and Lilly Asia Ventures.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Axcella Health Inc, a biotech company, has raised $71.4 million for its IPO after pricing its over 3.5 million shares at $20 per share. The stock began trading May 9, 2019 on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "AXLA." Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and SVB Leerink are the lead underwriters. Axcella's pre-IPO backers included Gurnet Point Capital, Flagship Pioneering and Enso Ventures.
Evident ID Inc, a platform that powers identity and credential verification for many of the world’s fastest-growing companies, has raised $20 million in Series B financing. Aspect Ventures led the round.
Los Angeles-based Neural Analytics Inc, a medical robotics company, has raised about $22 million in funding. Alpha Edison was the lead investor.
San Francisco-based Coalition, a cyber insurance company for small and mid-sized businesses, has raised $40 million in funding. Ribbit Capital led the round with participation from Greenoaks Capital and Hillhouse Capital.
Redwood City, California-based Pulmonx Corporation, a provider of diagnostic and therapeutic pulmonary device technologies, has raised $65 million in financing. Ally Bridge Group led the round with participation from other investors that included RTW Investments, ArrowMark Partners and Driehaus Capital Management. In addition to the funding, Pulmonx has appointed Dr. Derrick Sung as its chief financial officer.
La Jolla, California-based LunaPBC, a provider of a genomic and health data platform, has raised $4.6 million in funding. The investors included ARCH Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Illumina Ventures and Osage University Partners.
Durham, North Carolina-based ArchiveSocial, a provider of social media archiving software for government agencies, law enforcement officials and K-12 school districts, has raised $53 million in funding. The investor was Level Equity.