Raises additional 16M EUR led by Dawn Biopharma, a platform controlled by KKR, with participation from existing investors.
Funds will be used to further strengthen growing pipeline of first in class ADC assets, including lead asset targeting uPARAP.
Iyona Rajkomar, Managing Partner at Dawn Biopharma, joins Adcendo Board of Directors
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 29, 2024 — Adcendo ApS (“Adcendo”), a biotech company focused on the development of breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancers with a high unmet medical need, today announces the successful completion of a second Series A extension financing, raising a total of 98M EUR. This additional 16M EUR financing was led by Dawn Biopharma, a platform controlled by KKR, with participation from existing investors Novo Holdings, Ysios Capital, RA Capital Management, HealthCap, Gilde Healthcare and Pontifax Venture Capital. As part of the investment, Iyona Rajkomar, Managing Partner at Dawn Biopharma, will join the Adcendo Board of Directors.
Adcendo plans to further bolster the development of its first-in-class ADC pipeline assets and expand the development strategy for its lead uPARAP program in soft tissue sarcoma and other mesenchymal cancers. In addition, the funding will be used to develop further discovery-stage, first-in-class ADC pipeline assets to Development Candidate Nomination and beyond.
Michael Pehl, Chief Executive Officer of Adcendo, said: “This financing underscores the confidence that our investors have in Adcendo’s capabilities and potential to develop highly innovative ADC cancer therapies to provide treatment options for cancer patients with high unmet medical needs. We are extremely pleased to welcome Iyona to the Adcendo Board of Directors, as she brings a wealth of experience in supporting and advancing early and clinical stage biotech companies.”
Iyona Rajkomar, Board Director of Adcendo and Managing Partner at Dawn Biopharma, commented: “We are very excited to join the investor syndicate, supporting Adcendo at a pivotal time of growth and development. Our goal is to support companies committed to the development of highly innovative medicines and therapies. The progress made by Adcendo’s exceptional team has been impressive, and we are thrilled to join as the company makes the exciting transition into the clinic with its first-in-class assets in the ADC space.”
Adcendo raised 51M EUR Series A financing in April 2021, led by Novo Holdings and Ysios Capital, with participation from RA Capital Management, HealthCap and Gilde Healthcare. In April 2023, Adcendo announced a Series A extension of 31M EUR led by Pontifax Venture Capital and existing investors.
About Adcendo ApS
Adcendo ApS is developing breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of underserved cancers. In 2024, the company completed a Series A extension financing round, taking total funds raised to 98M EUR to advance, broaden, and accelerate the development of its first-in-class ADC pipeline assets. Investors include Novo Holdings, Ysios Capital, Pontifax Venture Capital, RA Capital Management, HealthCap, Gilde Healthcare and Dawn Biopharma, a platform controlled by KKR. For further information, please visit www.adcendo.com
About antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
ADCs are a class of highly potent biopharmaceutical drug composed of a targeting antibody linked to a biologically active drug or cytotoxic compound. ADCs combine the unique and very sensitive targeting capabilities of antibodies, with the potent effects of the conjugated cytotoxic drugs, allowing sensitive discrimination between healthy and cancer tissues.
About Dawn BioPharma
Dawn Biopharma is a platform controlled by the KKR Healthcare Strategic Growth Fund II, established to own and support a diverse portfolio of companies committed to the development of highly innovative medicines and therapies.
QINGDAO, China, May 29, 2024 — On May 28th, with the theme of “Venture and Capital for a New Era Innovation and Entrepreneurship for a Brighter Future “, the “2024 Qingdao Venture Capital Conference “, hosted by the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government and co-organized by CVINFO, opened at the Shangri-La Hotel in Qingdao. The one-and-a-half-day conference, which combines online and offline formats, has gathered more than a hundred industry experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from internationally renowned investment banks and leading venture capital and private equity institutions to discuss the opportunities and future of capital and to activate new drivers for high-quality development.
On May 28th, the “2024& Qingdao Venture Capital Conference “, hosted by the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government, opened at the Shangri-La Hotel in Qingdao.
A Conference with High “Gold Content”
In 2019, Qingdao set the goal of building a venture capital and private equity center and tailored the venture capital and private equity conference as a platform for gathering high-quality financial resources. Over the past five years, the influence of the conference has been continuously increasing and has become an important window for the venture capital and private equity industry to pay attention to the development of Qingdao.
Compared with the previous five sessions, this session of the 2024 Qingdao Venture Capital Conference has higher “gold content”.
Introducing a high “gold content” policy package.
Leveraging the advantages of policy transmission, innovation, and inclusiveness, we have made efforts to plan and layout the “five major articles”, enabling more accurate empowerment of scientific and technological innovation, which is the “best solution” for capital to serve the real economy.
For this reason, at this conference, the “Qingdao Further Support for the High-Quality Development of the Financial Industry Policy Measures” and the “Several Policies on Strengthening the Joint Linkage of Fiscal and Financial Support for the High-Quality Development of the Whole City” were released, aiming at the goal of “building a strong financial city”, further optimizing the policy environment, and contributing to the high-quality development of the whole city.
The two newly formulated policy systems are comprehensive in content, extensive in coverage, highlight key points, and have strong competitiveness, which will further promote the “two-way rush” between the city and capital power, and the “two-wing flight” of industry and new quality productive forces development. Enable venture capital and private equity institutions to invest successfully, thrive, and reap rewards in Qingdao.”
The landing of high “gold content” projects once again demonstrates Qingdao’s sincerity and confidence in attracting and serving high-quality development through project introduction and landing services.
At the conference, the Qingdao Municipal Government signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CICC, using the project resources and professional advantages of the leading investment bank to focus on major strategies, key areas, and major projects, providing comprehensive financial services, contributing to the development of Qingdao’s capital market and economic social development.
Focus on high-quality project signing to build a modern industrial system in Qingdao.
For example, Capital Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shandong Energy Group, has established a 7 billion yuan technology industry fund, helping expand the new development pattern of industrial investment in Qingdao; New energy vehicle new power millet Xiaomi fund invested in Qingdao Yunlu New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Upgrading industry level in Qingdao; Hisense Group’s fund manager completed the registration, marking the full coverage of direct investment platforms for large enterprises in Qingdao.
A Conference with a Strong “Vane” Color
The “vane” color of this session of the venture capital and private equity conference is more intense.
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on April 30 proposed that it is necessary to develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, strengthen the layout of national strategic scientific and technological forces, cultivate and expand emerging industries, advance the layout and construction of future industries, and use advanced technology to empower the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. It is necessary to actively develop venture capital and expand patient capital.
In terms of actively cultivating emerging industries and future industries, the 2024 Government Work Report proposes to “encourage the development of venture capital and equity investment, and optimize the function of industrial investment funds”.
The Central Economic Work Conference held in 2023 proposed to “encourage the development of venture capital and equity investment”. When explaining the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference in detail, the relevant responsible comrade of the Central Finance Office said: “It is necessary to encourage the development of venture capital and equity investment, and support long-term capital and patient capital to invest more in scientific and technological innovation. “
How can capital empower new quality productivity? How to cultivate more patient capital, guests attending this forum expressed their opinions and offered solutions respectively.
Tu Guangshao, Executive Director of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, brought a keynote speech on “Global Industrial Chain Restructuring and New Opportunities for China’s Industrial Economy”; Chen Wenling, Chief Economist, Executive Deputy Director, and Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of China Center for International Economic Exchanges, shared wonderful insights on “Developing New Quality Productivity and Promoting Sustainable Development”; Du Pengfei, Party Committee Member and Management Committee Member of China International Capital Corporation Limited, expressed wonderful views on “Practice and Thinking of Capital Investment”.
In addition, Zhang Wei, Chairman of CoStone Capital, and Zheng Weihe, Chairman and Founding Partner of Cowin Capital, and other heads of domestic leading venture capital institutions elaborated on the development of the innovation system and the capital market, the innovation and development of China’s equity investment, and the acceleration of the construction of Qingdao’s venture capital and private equity ecology.
The guests generally believe that through efficient financial empowerment of new quality productivity, it is not only an important part of deepening the reform of the Supply-side Structural but also an important action to implement the spirit of the Central Financial Work Conference. In the process of accelerating the cultivation and development of new quality productivity, science and technology are equally important, and actively developing venture capital and jointly growing patient capital is the key to the transformation and development of the financial industry towards the new and the real.
In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the Central Committee on actively cultivating and building a financial culture with Chinese characteristics, and actively practice the requirements of the financial culture with Chinese characteristics in the field of equity investment, combined with the characteristics and cultural connotation requirements of the equity investment field, the 2024 Qingdao Venture Capital and Private Equity Conference also initiated the “Initiative for the Construction of Chinese Equity Investment Culture” in the Chinese venture capital and private equity field for the first time, calling for the promotion of industry cultural connotation and the strengthening of the standard requirements for industry development.
A Conference to Create a High-Quality Capital Matrix
A high-quality capital matrix is the basic “base” for serving new quality productivity.
For a city, in a high-quality capital matrix, the government’s guiding fund with the effect of “lifting a thousand pounds with four taels” is indispensable, and one of its missions is to highlight the policy guidance function, guiding funds to flow to key technical fields that the market dares not invest in and where there is a large demand for funds, cultivating emerging industries and future industries, and filling the long-term capital gap.
On the afternoon of May 28, the 2024 Government Guidance Fund Ecological Conference, led by the Municipal Finance Bureau and the Municipal Guidance Fund Trusteeship Management Agency, was grandly held. More than a hundred well-known investment institutions, business representatives and industry experts gathered together to link the guidance funds through the conference. Various cooperative institutions and resource parties held discussions around the development direction of venture capital and equity investment, the virtuous cycle of government-guided funds, and the development of new quality productivity in venture capital and venture capital services, and conducted in-depth discussions on the fundraising, investment, and development of venture capital and venture capital industries. The core issues faced by management and withdrawal of various chains, and interpretation of the current status and development direction of key industries and hot spots.
In addition, the conference also cooperated with the city’s listed emerging industry professional parks to carry out project roadshows, organized on-site reviews of venture capital and venture capital institutions, expanded the influence of high-quality enterprises, smoothed the two-way docking channels for funds and project investment and financing, and led the venture capital to inject vitality into the fertile industrial soil. , connect industrial clusters and promote high-quality economic development.
At the conference, CVINFO also used the outstanding investment institutions’ establishment of funds, investment projects and project exit results in Qingdao in the past three years as a benchmark to discover and commend outstanding investors who have made outstanding contributions to the construction of Qingdao’s international venture capital and venture capital center. Partners, attract more outstanding investors to become Qingdao city partners, and provide a reference for Qingdao to build a high-quality capital matrix.
It is worth mentioning that this conference actively advocates the practice of green investment concepts and uses digital RMB payment to purchase the carbon emission reductions of Qingdao’s carbon inclusive platform “lcago” to neutralize this venture capital investment. The carbon emissions generated in transportation, catering, accommodation, conference affairs, etc. during the conference have achieved a “zero-carbon conference” and provided a reference for enterprises and financial institutions to serve green and low-carbon development.
Capital empowers industry, new quality drives development. In this warm season, let’s turn our attention to the 2024 Qingdao Venture Capital Conference.
MINNEAPOLIS, May 28, 2024 — Claros Technologies, Inc. (ClarosTech™), the leader in PFAS analytical and destruction technologies, announced today that it has raised $22M in new funding co-led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund and American Century Investments. This financing will allow ClarosTech™ to continue scaling the research, development and market penetration of its UV-photochemical PFAS destruction technologies, its durable anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-odor and broad spectrum UVA and UVB bio-based functional materials technologies and its ISO/IEC 17025:2017 analytical laboratory.
Additional investors include Capita3, Children’s Minnesota, Kureha America Inc., Open Door Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation, other corporate investors, several individual investors alongside incumbent investors Groundswell Ventures and the University of Minnesota.
“Our commitment to PFAS destruction is not just about environmental responsibility, but also about sustainability. By developing and commercializing cutting-edge solutions to PFAS pollution, we’re positioning ourselves at the forefront of a growing market. As the demand for sustainable, scalable, cost competitive chemistries and industrial processes increases, we believe our technologies can be part of ensuring long-term success for our customers, partners and the planet.” said Michelle Bellanca, ClarosTech™ CEO and co-founder. “This $22M over-subscribed fundraise is a testament to the trust and commitment from a syndicate of investors that believe in Claros’ technology, commercialization strategy and vision for a cleaner and safer world. With this support, Claros is poised to revolutionize the landscape of PFAS destruction and safeguard our environment for generations to come.”
Since its prior financing in 2021, ClarosTech™ has successfully:
Scaled its PFAS destruction solution to field deployable units and is working with industry-leading manufacturers and other stakeholders to provide sustainable and effective solutions to remediate PFAS pollution in wastewater. Confirmed by internal, independent third-party and customer laboratories, ClarosTech™ has proved 99.99% destruction and defluorination performance on all PFAS types including long, short and ultra-short chain PFAS;
Built a world class ISO/IEC 17025:2017 analytical laboratory; and
Commercialized its durable functional material chemistries from bio-based sources, allowing for durable (wash-safe) anti-bacterial, anti-odor, anti-viral and broad spectrum UVA and UVB properties in textiles and other substrates.
“PFAS chemicals represent a monumental and increasingly urgent societal challenge. They are ubiquitous in manufactured products, have serious environmental and human health impacts and are persistent in the environment. Industrial producers are finally being held accountable for this pollution: settlements from PFAS litigation in the US are approaching $20 billion; the US EPA has begun regulating PFAS in drinking water; and CERCLA has designated PFAS chemicals as hazardous waste,” said Sasha Brown, Partner at Ecosystem Integrity. “We are proud to partner with Claros, which provides the most efficacious and cost-effective method of eliminating PFAS and analyzing the contents of effluent for industrial customers. Claros’ analytical, modeling and destruction capabilities are essential tools to tackle the critical imperative of halting PFAS pollution.”
PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance or “forever chemicals”) are a family of over 15,000 chemical compounds used in everything from semiconductor manufacturing to the production of clothing, furniture and food packaging. PFAS chemicals are ubiquitous and linked to cancer, thyroid disease, kidney dysfunction, birth defects, autoimmune disease and other serious health problems. Today, ChemSec estimates a $17.5 trillion annual societal cost of PFAS in our global economy. Current methods of PFAS elimination do NOT permanently solve the problem and instead perpetuate an infinite PFAS life-cycle by returning the original or concentrated PFAS back into the environment through dilution in wastewater treatment facilities, landfill disposal, incineration or deep well injection. None of these are sustainable or provide finality to liability concerns. AECOM estimates a global PFAS opportunity (replacement mitigation) of $250B and in April 2024, the Biden Administration passed the first regulations and limits on PFAS in drinking water.
About ClarosTech™
Founded from technical research developed at the University of Minnesota, ClarosTech™ is harnessing green chemistry and advanced material science to solve our global human health PFAS pollution crises. ClarosTech™ offers the first truly closed-loop PFAS contamination solution that permanently destroys ALL types of PFAS (long, short and ultrashort chain) and the greatest number of compounds compared to any other technology, is poised to be the lowest cost solution and requires minimal energy usage. ClarosTech™ is led by CEO and co-founder Michelle Bellanca, who prior to founding ClarosTech™ identified, operated and scaled technologies at 3M, IBM and the Japanese Government’s Ministry of International Trade & Investment. Michelle most recently served as Managing Director of 3M’s Strategic Corporate Ventures – Asia Pacific, investing in early-stage platform technology companies. For more information, please visit www.clarostechnologies.com
Skyrocketing costs of cancer care handily outpace other disease areas like heart disease and kidney care on a per-patient cost basis; expose urgent, unmet need for payers to focus on value-driving measures for cancer population
Cancer’s lethality is matched by its complexity, requiring personalized care plans and placing an extreme burden on both patient and provider; Echo and CVS identify Thyme Care’s provider-centric approach as pivotal to proactively addressing patient needs–improving experience, outcomes, and affordability
New strategic investment builds on Thyme Care’s leadership and will accelerate the national expansion of its comprehensive cancer care model, offering a path forward for payers and providers seeking to improve member experience and bend the cost curve
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 28, 2024 — Thyme Care, the leading value-based cancer care enabler, today announced investment from Echo Health Ventures, a strategic investment platform investing on behalf of multiple Blues health plans, and CVS Health Ventures, the venture arm of CVS Health. The investment will accelerate the national expansion of Thyme Care’s value-based cancer care model through contracts with health plans, risk-bearing providers and with oncologists. Kurt Sheline, partner at Echo Health Ventures, and Alyssa Reisner, partner at CVS Health Ventures, will join as board observers.
As the second leading cause of death in the United States, cancer’s lethality is matched by its complexity and imposes an extreme economic burden for patients and payers alike. Patients often face difficulties in navigating their care due to the intricacies of a cancer diagnosis and subsequent care plan, leading to gaps in support and lack of coordination between visits. Consequently, cancer patients experience higher rates of hospitalization during treatment, contributing to increased healthcare costs across the system, with cancer costs disproportionately impacting healthcare spend.
“Cancer care today is challenging for everyone involved. Patients and families are forced to navigate a complex and frightening care journey, while providers struggle to offer personalized care in a rapidly evolving and often heterogeneous case mix, and health plans grapple with skyrocketing costs,” said Kurt Sheline, Echo Health Ventures. “We believe Thyme Care’s member-centric and provider-integrated approach is unique and has the potential to transform this status quo toward a value-based future that aligns incentives to improve outcomes and lower costs.”
Thyme Care challenges the traditional fee-for-service landscape by empowering oncologists as agents of change within novel payment models, allowing them to focus on delivering high-quality care in the clinic, while Thyme Care’s oncology-trained Care Team manages patients’ needs between visits. Through Thyme Care’s represented payer agreements, the company embeds its patient-centered care resources directly within oncology practices, including 24/7 navigation services, operational and actuarial support, and robust reporting capabilities to accurately measure impact in these new models. This comprehensive approach has proven effective in reducing healthcare utilization rates and improving clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and affordability across the care continuum. Now available in 31 states to more than 500,000 people at participating health plans, risk-bearing providers, and government-sponsored entities, Thyme Care plans to rapidly expand its services as it establishes more payer and provider agreements across the country.
“Through our ongoing work at CVS Health Ventures, we’ve pinpointed a critical need to find organizations who can empower health care providers, without creating abrasion to their existing efforts, while effectively lowering costs and providing high-value patient care,” said Alyssa Reisner, CVS Health Ventures. “Thyme Care’s provider-driven approach is a powerful catalyst in enabling oncologists to navigate the shift to alternative payment models, fostering patient trust and elevating the role of the provider while driving significant cost savings throughout the care continuum. We’re dedicated to supporting Thyme Care’s growth by lending our strategic expertise as the company expands nationally.”
Echo Health Ventures and CVS Health Ventures joined Thyme Care’s recent fundraise because they recognize the urgency and unmet need to design scalable solutions around the fragmented cancer care experience, both within their various portfolio partners and at a broader scale. Alternative payment models like CMS’ Enhancing Oncology Model are a step in the right direction toward value-based cancer care industry adoption, similar to the way its Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease Care (CEC) model transformed kidney care in 2015. Thyme Care’s approach is enabling more payers and providers to participate in value-based arrangements.
“The investment from Echo and CVS is a milestone moment for Thyme Care driven by our commitment to working with partners dedicated to rethinking how we deliver and pay for cancer care,” said Brad Diephuis, MD, MBA, chief operations officer and president at Thyme Care and former advisor to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). “We’re thrilled to welcome them to the team, and we look forward to leveraging their deep industry insights.”
About Thyme Care Thyme Care is the leading value-based care enabler, collaborating with payers and providers to transform the experience and outcomes for individuals living with cancer. The company partners with health plans, employers and risk-bearing providers to assume accountability for enhanced care quality, improved health outcomes, and reduced total cost of care. Thyme Care’s approach combines a technology-enabled Care Team and seamless integration with providers, creating a hybrid collaborative care model that guides and supports the entire patient journey. Thyme Care empowers oncologists nationwide through purpose-built tech, advanced data analytics, and virtual patient engagement, driving better care and outcomes in value-based arrangements. Thyme Care is a founding member of CancerX, and is backed by leading investors. To learn more about how Thyme Care is enabling the shift to value-based care in oncology, visit www.thymecare.com.
About Echo Health Ventures Echo Health Ventures drives systemic health care transformation through hands-on, purpose-driven strategic venture capital and growth equity investing. Echo brings together Cambia Health Solutions, Mosaic Health Solutions, USAble Corporation and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee to accelerate health care innovation on a national scale and support meaningful health care impact. Learn more at www.echohealthventures.com.
About CVS Health Ventures CVS Health Ventures is a dedicated corporate venture capital fund that works with high-potential, early-stage and growth-stage companies focused on making health care more accessible, affordable, and simpler. The company focuses on investments that transform care delivery and focus on whole person care, consumer-centric health, and disruptive technology enablement. CVS Health Ventures’ goal is to enable promising entrepreneurs to scale more quickly and effectively through access to their unmatched enterprise capabilities and consumer touchpoints, while offering expertise and insights from their company’s unique perspective. For more information, visit cvshealth.com/health-care-redefined/ventures.html.
Contact Kimberly Dreisinger Thyme Care Communications [email protected]
The round was led by Portal Ventures, SNZ Capital and renowned angel investors, who all share the same vision that SocialFi is primed to become the largest consumer use case for mass adoption in Asia
HONG KONG, May 28, 2024 — Today, OpenSocial Protocol (OpenSocial), a composable infrastructure layer for building social applications, announced the successful completion of a $5M seed funding round. OpenSocial is a multichain SocialFi infrastructure protocol empowering developers and creators to effortlessly build social dApps. Led by infrastructure investors Portal Ventures and SNZ Capital (early backers of Ethereum, Chainlink, Cosmos, Arbitrum, Polkadot and Dfinity), the round opened in December 2023 and closed in January 2024.
Other investors included Animoca Brands (HK), Awesome People Ventures (US), Arche Fund (Vietnam), Decima Fund (Japan), Moonrock Capital (EU), OKX Ventures, Orange DAO (US), Panony, Summer Ventures (HK); and renowned web3 entrepreneurs include Smokey the Bera, Brian Fabian Crain, Mike Dudas, Martin El-Khouri, Roham Gharegozlou, Don Ho, Mable Jiang, Adam Jin, Serge Kassardjian, and Jason Yano.
OpenSocial Protocol is founded by Everest Ventures Group (EVG), one of the largest web3 operating groups in Asia focused on consumer applications. They have 300 full-time builders with backgrounds from Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent and NetEase and 2M+ users across its products. EVG is also an early supporter of Animoca Brands, the Sandbox and Dapper Labs.
EVG set aside a $15M ecosystem fund for developers to build on OpenSocial. EVG has also deployed 30 of its best in-house builders to develop OpenSocial. There are also 50 additional developers building dApps on top of OpenSocial, outside of EVG.
What is OpenSocial Protocol?
OpenSocial is an open-source social infrastructure layer to power native web3 social experiences. Founded in 2023, OpenSocial aims to empower thousands of community dApps with infrastructure and UI-layer composabilities, true ownership of intellectual property and relationship, and better-aligned monetisation and financial incentives.
The modular design with easy-to-deploy social tools on a multichain approach enables developers and creators to assemble dApps quickly and economically.
These modules can be either on-chain or off-chain and include: feed, chatroom, text/video/audio/posts, comments, reactions, voting, share, on-chain social graphs (social data and structure), tribes (user and topic based communities), megaphones (an advertising engine), as well as plug-ins (token issuance, DAO tools, betting, voting, bounties, matching, mini-games).
“These modules and tools are designed to provide both an emotionally captivating and financially rewarding social experience covering accessibility, ownership and monetization opportunities to end users and communities,” noted Sean Tao, Co-Founder of OpenSocial Protocol.
Another unique web3 mechanism to be unveiled soon is the portability, self-ownership and self-sovereignty of identities and communities within different ecosystems and products.
Why social, why now?
Social has the potential to become the largest consumer use case for mass adoption of web3. The evolution of the internet’s use cases provide a precedent. Social was not a core use case in the first 6 years of the consumer internet (1997-2003) as marketplaces, portals, and games dominated but it emerged to social giants of today as a leading use case in the second phase of post dot.com bubble (2004-2010) as costs declined and adoption grew. SocialFi projects struggle to reach their full potential without the right technology and consumer readiness, similar to Social’s early path in web2. Asian social app adoption is an important factor in EVG’s decision to launch OpenSocial too.
“Importantly, Asia represents more than half of the world’s social media users, with nearly 3 billion people actively using social platforms every day. We think SocialFi’s ‘Axie moment’ will happen this cycle and likely take place in Asia. And the SocialFi trend in Asia will prove that social is a layer not media,” said Allen Ng, CEO of EVG and Co-Founder of OpenSocial Protocol.
“We are thrilled to have such powerful network effects from our very strategic investors. We come from a venture studio operation with backgrounds from Bytedance, Tencent, Alibaba that understand user preferences. OpenSocial’s design principles and dApps strategies are very different from the western-centric players, leveraging on our learning and advantages in Asia, we envision powering hundreds if not thousands of community dApps in 5 years,” said Tao.
dApps already available on OpenSocial
With the $15M ecosystem fund to empower the next-generation super apps, OpenSocial has already launched its first dAppSoMon (“Social Monster”), a truly decentralized topic-based forum owned by users and communities with degen mechanics and sustainable rewards.
There are various platforms and SocialFi use cases powered by OpenSocial that are soon to launch, including Zeek – a decentralized collaboration network for on-chain social bounty and reputation, backed by OKX Ventures and Animoca Brands.
OpenSocial’s investors are excited
“OpenSocial combines lessons from leading Asia consumer internet businesses like WeChat with a deep understanding of crypto native preferences. The team is building an infrastructure layer that will power an ecosystem of new, community-driven social experiences. Users demand novel financialized experiences – OpenSocial makes that possible,” said Evan Fisher, Founder & Managing Partner of Portal Ventures.
“In the last five years, EVG has grown from a start-up to one of the largest web3 consumer groups in Asia. OpenSocial is the flagship project of EVG and the team is building multiple dApps on top, which we believe could be the right product at the right time for the right team to deliver. SocialFi is a very challenging and competitive sector with huge potential, while OpenSocial along with SoMon, Zeek and others dApps, has a great chance to be the game changer,” Gavin Wang, CIO of SNZ Capital.
“We are proud to back OpenSocial in its endeavor to empower creators and developers to build social capital and innovate at the forefront of SocialFi. I am confident that OpenSocial will enable the first transformative steps in how we engage digitally, and look forward to incubating unique Japanese collaborations leveraging OpenSocial,” noted Ken Kitahara, Co-founder & General Partner of Decima Fund.
“OpenSocial is well-positioned to fill the social need with its modular, community-owned approach tailored for mobile-first markets like Vietnam. I believe that through OpenSocial’s infrastructure, we will see many innovative Vietnamese social applications emerge that strengthen real-world connections and celebrate local culture in new ways,” said Thanh Le, Founder of Ninety Eight.
About OpenSocial
OpenSocial Protocol (OpenSocial) is a multichain SocialFi infrastructure empowering developers and creators to effortlessly build social dApps. Leveraging its robust social graph and modular design, OpenSocial enables transparent content promotion to specific user groups, ensuring fair value distribution among all stakeholders. OpenSocial offers the best data, tooling, and financial layer and its vision is to enable the largest multi-chain social economy.
OpenSocial Protocol is founded by Everest Ventures Group.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Everest Ventures Group (EVG) is a web3 operating group driving mass adoption of web3. With a global team of 300, we have built and launched a diverse portfolio of products for the future of digital interaction across use cases, such as Aspen Digital, Mugen Interactive, Kiki, LiveArt, Blocktempo, Cassava Network, and Adverse. As an early investor and lead advisor we have contributed to unicorns, and 150+ defining projects such as Celestia, Wormhole, Berachain, Dapper Labs (Flow), Animoca Brands, Immutable, The Sandbox, Yuga Labs, Kraken, Lukka, Dunamu and Blocklords.
AUSTIN, Texas, May 28, 2024 — Pennybacker Capital Management, LLC (Pennybacker), a real assets investment manager, today announced the final closing of its sixth value opportunity series fund, Pennybacker VI, LP (Fund VI), which exceeded its target with $1.6 billion in capital commitments.
Fund VI received strong support from its existing investor base and has attracted numerous first-time commitments from leading institutional investors. Fund VI seeks to invest in U.S. real estate assets across equity and debt opportunities.
“The continued growth of our value opportunity fund series is a testament to the partnerships we have forged and our track record as a real estate investor,” said Tim Berry, Founder, CEO, and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Pennybacker. “We are excited to put Fund VI commitments to work given the backdrop of dislocation across real estate capital markets and our deep experience finding and creating value during turbulent times. Our ability to execute across the capital spectrum, property sectors, and U.S. regions presents what we believe to be a compelling risk-adjusted opportunity for our investors.”
“We are grateful for the continued support from our existing investors and welcome many new relationships to Pennybacker. The commitment to Fund VI in a challenging fundraising environment validates the trust we have built and performance we have delivered across cycles,” said Andrew Knox, Managing Director and Head of Capital Formation of Pennybacker.
About Pennybacker
Pennybacker is a real assets investment manager based in Austin, Texas, with approximately $4 billion in assets under management. The firm pursues real estate and infrastructure strategies through closed-end and open-ended vehicles across the capital structure. For more information, visit https://www.pennybackercap.com.
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 28, 2024 — Ducky, an AI-powered support platform unlocking customer support agents’ problem-solving superpowers, today announced it raised a $2.7M round of pre-seed funding led by Penny Jar Capital, with participation from Bread & Butter Ventures, NOMO Ventures, Wilson Sonsini, angel investors and others. Ducky uses machine learning and AI to make internal knowledge sources instantly accessible for customer-facing teams by automatically delivering relevant information and an on-brand customer response. By increasing productivity, customer-focused teams have more time to problem-solve the most challenging cases with care. Coming out of stealth, Ducky’s initial clients include customer-focused companies like Superhuman and others.
Ducky co-founders, Hongbo Tian and James O’Brien
“There is a rush to use AI to deflect customers and prevent human interaction – we believe AI is more powerful when supporting humans, not replacing them,” said James O’Brien, co-founder and COO of Ducky. “By removing the blocker of finding the right information and handling repetitive questions, agents can focus on the aspects of their work that create impactful, lasting customer relationships.”
“The information support agents need to do their jobs is buried in a myriad of distinct places, and the effort to search and discover is an emotionally draining, time-sucking experience – not an ideal environment for the team who is a gateway to your customers,” said Hongbo Tian, co-founder and CEO, Ducky. “We believe the best way to create an incredible experience for customers is to put AI and machine learning to work for – and learn from – the incredible support agents on the frontlines.”
By combining open-source and proprietary technology, Ducky’s AI-powered support platform learns from internal knowledge tools like Slack, Notion, and JIRA, to help support agents respond to tickets faster and find the correct information in seconds. In addition, Ducky automatically creates a customer response based on a brand’s tone – ensuring personalized, consistent communication for every interaction. With its Chrome extension, Ducky works alongside any support ticketing platform, including Help Scout, Zendesk, Hubspot, Gorgias, and more.
“Knowledge workers spend about one day a week searching for data – this is disastrous when the customer experience hangs in the balance,” said Rich Scudellari, co-founder of Penny Jar Capital. “The Ducky team is solving this data problem with machine learning and AI, freeing up time for support teams to create personalized customer experiences with lasting impact.”
“This is an insanely talented team – Hongbo’s mastery of AI and machine learning, combined with James’ proven track record in business development and scaling SaaS companies, makes them a powerhouse. We’re proud to back the Ducky team in building next-generation tech for customer support,” said Mary Grove, Managing Partner, Bread and Butter Ventures.
About Ducky
Ducky’s AI-powered support platform unlocks customer support agents’ problem-solving superpowers. Founded by Hongbo Tian and James O’Brien, Ducky’s mission is to create amazing, human customer experiences. Ducky’s combination of proprietary and open-sourced machine learning and AI technology makes internal knowledge sources instantly accessible and actionable, allowing support agents to focus on problem-solving the most challenging cases.
Sagetap uses AI to match tech executives with the optimal software vendors. Thousands of tech executives from organizations like Nvidia, JP Morgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, and AirBnB use Sagetap to find the best and most relevant new SaaS tools to adopt.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 28, 2024 — Sagetap, the first AI-driven marketplace matching SaaS buyers and sellers, today announced $6.8M in funding from NFX, Uncorrelated Ventures, Emergent Ventures, and 15 active customers. The company is cash-flow positive and has grown revenue 3X YoY.
Built for busy executives overwhelmed with sales outreach from the explosion of B2B software vendors, Sagetap offers AI-powered product recommendations, one-click demo scheduling, and anonymity controls to block unwanted follow-ups.
Sagetap maintains a database of the most innovative AI startups by aggregating buying activity from their network of tech executives, partnerships with the VC community, and analyzing thousands of technical demos happening on the platform each month.
Their recommendation engine allows tech executives to instantly identify the very best products for new initiatives or upcoming SaaS renewals, ensuring they are selecting the best tools in just a fraction of the time.
“Tech buyers are inundated with cold outreach from vendors, while startups building great solutions struggle to get the market awareness they deserve,” explained Sahil Khanna, co-founder and CEO of Sagetap. “We have the first online platform that helps tech buyers anonymously discover and meet with B2B SaaS startups solving their biggest problems.”
According to Gartner, $1 trillion will be spent on software in 2024. With the accessibility of AI, the number of vendors entering the market and the rate of change to these products will drastically accelerate. Sagetap is already observing an explosion in AI infrastructure startups and an appetite from buyers to run POCs.
Sagetap’s platform is used by thousands of tech executives working on AI Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, DevOps, Cloud & Data Infrastructure.
Vendors on the platform can pay to set up campaigns to target specific buyers, conduct meetings, and request buyer feedback, which is provided asynchronously on the platform. Vendors on the platform report an average ROI of 3X when looking at closed-won business and their Sagetap spend.
The company plans to use the funding to expand its network of tech executives and further develop its product recommendation engine and decision-support tools for buyers.
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“Sagetap has built a business with incredible network effects. It becomes increasingly more valuable for buyers and sellers by the day,” said James Currier, General Partner at NFX. “I have no doubt in Sahil and Kevin’s ability to continue scaling the marketplace and reinventing how SaaS vendors sell.”
“Sagetap can comprehend and articulate what is happening across the whole of technology. It understands our challenges and allows us to tap into bleeding-edge tech, without needing to be an expert in each category.” – Robin Smith, Aston Martin.
Bionic CMO Stephen Burton shared that his sales team conducted 130 meetings with security executives on the Sagetap platform, resulting in 4X ROI. “If you’re confident that your demo resonates and the story is relevant, then you can validate that on Sagetap with unprecedented access to tech buyers. Validation is really indicated by how many buyers convert.”
About Sagetap
Founded in 2019 by Sahil Khanna and Kevin Hughes, Sagetap is the B2B SaaS Buying Network designed for busy tech executives looking to stay at the forefront of innovation. Based in San Francisco, the company is trusted by thousands of leading technology leaders at major organizations and high-growth software vendors. Learn more at https://www.sagetap.io/.
Approximately USD 250 million (SAR 920 million) raised from a distinguished group of Saudi, GCC and European investors, led by JADA, PIF’s Fund of Funds Company.
The Afiyah Fund is the largest of its kind with a major focus on supporting the key medical priorities of Saudi’s Vision 2030 and the Health Sector Transformation Program.
Including expected co-investments from its strong limited partner base, the firm anticipates mobilizing a total of USD 400-500 million in Saudi Arabian healthcare companies and international companies with major expansion projects in the Kingdom.
RIYADH,Saudi Arabia and DUBAI, UAE, May 28, 2024 — TVM Capital Healthcare, an international healthcare expansion and growth capital investor, today announced the closing of the TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund LP at approximately USD 250 million, its second pool of capital in the Middle East.
TVM Capital Healthcare has operated in the Middle East since 2009 and Southeast Asia since 2021. The new fund builds on the firm’s past success investing in the region, providing highly attractive returns and demonstrating its ability to originate deals and develop successful, sustainable companies with excellent growth prospects and strong management teams.
TVM Capital Healthcare identifies unmet healthcare needs and invests in entrepreneurial companies that create lasting impact in their local communities while delivering strong returns to investors. The firm has built a solid reputation as the first international fund manager investing in and operating major healthcare companies in the Kingdom. It also invests in healthcare growth deals in Europe and the U.S. to support these companies’ expansion plans for Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC. With this two-pronged, highly catalytic strategy, TVM Capital Healthcare optimizes its contribution to transforming the Saudi economy and improves access to world-leading products, technologies, and services in the region.
Among the first investments of the fund are:
Baraya Extended Care, a Riyadh-based chain of long-term, post-acute care and rehabilitation clinics
DEBx Medical, an Amsterdam-based developer and manufacturer of ground-breaking products for the treatment of chronic wounds that is about to enter the Saudi market
neurocare Group, a Munich-based leading innovator in personalized mental health services and products, with clinics in the U.S., the Netherlands, and Australia, that is preparing to enter Saudi and the GCC
Other deals include longevity and genomics, oncology, pharma manufacturing, and diagnostics.
Bandr Alhomaly, Managing Director and CEO of Jada Fund of Funds, said, “The closing of TVM Healthcare Afiyah Fund marks an important milestone in mobilizing private capital into Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector, and we are pleased to lead the investment, providing capital to support the development of the sector in line with Vision 2030.”
Dr. Helmut M. Schuehsler, Chairman and CEO of TVM Capital Healthcare added: “We are proud of attracting a distinguished group of institutional and family investment groups from Saudi, other GCC countries, and Europe for a specialist pool of capital of this size being deployed in domestic companies in the Kingdom and international companies entering the market. We are uniquely positioned for success because our leadership team comprises executives with long-standing expertise in Europe and the U.S., who have built excellent international networks throughout their careers, alongside local Saudi healthcare experts. Plus, we have been investing in the GCC and Egypt for over 13 years, and more specifically, operating in Saudi since 2015 through our former portfolio companies, ProVita International Medical Center and Cambridge International Medical Center. Today, we are truly excited about our ability to enhance the local and regional healthcare ecosystem at a much larger scale, helping to improve access to high-quality patient care, medical products, and treatment regimens across the Kingdom.”
TVM Capital Healthcare has offices in Riyadh, Dubai, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City and supporting offices in Munich and Boston. It was represented in the fundraise by multinational law firm Morgan Lewis.
About TVM Capital Healthcare TVM Capital Healthcare is an emerging markets-focused healthcare private equity firm headquartered in Dubai and Singapore, with offices in Riyadh and Ho Chi Minh City and supporting offices in Munich and Boston. The firm invests expansion and growth capital in healthcare companies to improve local access to quality care and provide local sources of medical products in the pharma, medical device and diagnostics sectors. Investment and operating partners, as well as a strong group of regional and international senior advisors have long-standing international track records in healthcare investing, active board work, contributions to strategy development and implementation, as well as deep healthcare operating experience in the relevant markets. The firm partners with local Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian management teams to build domestic or regional sector champions and selectively backs companies from Europe or North America for expansion into the firm’s target geographies.
Medical quality of its service businesses is safeguarded by collaborations with leading international medical technology and clinical partners as well as international accreditation agencies such as Joint Commission International (JCI). TVM Capital Healthcare’s investment and operating approach combines strong commercial value creation and financial returns with responsible investing in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). www.tvmcapitalhealthcare.com
