ATMORE, Ala., Jan. 24, 2024 — United Bank (OTCQX:UBAB) has provided $440,000 in soft financing as well as a $6 million construction bridge loan to Woda Cooper Companies, Inc. for the construction of The Lenox, a new multi-family affordable housing complex in Augusta, Georgia. The soft financing is funded through United Bank’s 2023 Capital Magnet Fund award from the CDFI Fund division of the US Treasury Department. Once completed, the complex will offer 64 one- and two-bedroom apartment homes for individuals and families and will be built to be LEED for Homes certified. Located in downtown Augusta with close proximity to amenities, The Lenox supports the City of Augusta’s goals of downtown redevelopment.  On-site amenities will include a laundry facility, clubhouse and community center,  a rooftop terrace, fitness center, playground, a covered picnic pavilion, and a computer center. 

About United Bank 
United Bank is a $1.3 billion financial holding company that serves Southwest Alabama and Northwest Florida. United is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), which recognizes its commitment to stimulating economic development in underserved communities. UB Community Development (UBCD) focuses on economic and community development through its New Markets Tax Credits, affordable housing, and community facilities programs. Member FDIC.

SOURCE United Bank

Funding led by I Squared Capital, alongside Zero Infinity Partners and TriplePoint Capital

The investment will support the launch of the Veridiant SaaS Platform and CheckSammy’s continued expansion

DALLAS, Jan. 24, 2024 — CheckSammy, the world’s largest bulk waste and sustainability operator, today announced a $45 million strategic investment that will enhance the company’s ability to deliver transparent, measurable waste diversion and carbon reduction benefits to companies.

The growth equity round is led by I Squared Capital, with Zero Infinity Partners participating. In addition, CheckSammy has entered into a growth capital and revolving credit facility with TriplePoint Capital, LLC. This is Zero Infinity Partners’ second investment in CheckSammy, reaffirming their belief in the company’s mission and commercial success. Ross Berger from I Squared Capital and John Kwaak from Zero Infinity Partners will join CheckSammy’s Board of Directors as part of the funding agreement.

CheckSammy provides on-demand, same-day bulk waste removal and bespoke sustainability services, with revenue growing 40x since first commercializing in 2020. The company operates a two-sided marketplace, connecting independent waste haulers and service providers with enterprise customers. The marketplace model enables seamless national contracting and best-in-class service coverage across North America, at a highly competitive price point, delivering meaningful value to end customers. The funding will allow the first-of-its-kind circular waste management service provider to improve its ability to help companies achieve and verify their waste diversion goals.

In addition, the funding will support the launch of Veridiant, CheckSammy’s sustainability software platform that provides detailed diversion analytics, carbon inset and offset capabilities, a materials marketplace, and integrates with customers’ existing ESG technology stack. Together, CheckSammy and Veridiant provide a solution to strategically manage, analyze, and optimize ESG metrics, enabling true Sustainability-as-a-Service to CheckSammy clients.

“The continued support of our work allows us to accelerate our mission to build waste diversion technology and data aggregation,” said Sam Scoten, CEO and Founder of CheckSammy. “We look forward to expanding our role as enablers of the circular economy by providing new tools to strategically optimize our clients’ ESG scores and diversion efforts.” 

“CheckSammy has quickly established itself as a leading provider of bulk junk removal services in North America,” said Kevin Crull, Global InfraTech Fund Partner at I Squared Capital. “The company is providing an essential service to enterprise customers, while delivering tangible sustainability benefits, primarily in the form of landfill diversion. CheckSammy is a natural fit at I Squared, and we are pleased to partner with them as they expand their operations and deepen their technology leadership in the waste sector.”

About CheckSammy: 
CheckSammy is the world’s largest bulk waste and sustainability operator. The company is a nationwide provider of on-demand, same-day waste and bulk junk removal and sustainability services. CheckSammy utilizes proprietary technology, data-backed techniques, and exclusive partnerships with a vast network of respected sustainability vendors across the continent to move efficiently and tackle complex waste and recycling situations without being tied to a specific destination or solution. Investors include I Squared Capital, Zero Infinity Partners, and TriplePoint Capital. For more information about CheckSammy, visit checksammy.com.

About I Squared Capital: 
I Squared Capital is an independent global infrastructure manager with over $38 billion in assets under management focused on investing in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Headquartered in Miami, the firm has more than 240 professionals across its offices in Singapore, London, New Delhi, Taipei, and Sydney. I Squared Capital has invested in a diverse portfolio of 81 companies with over 66,000 employees in 71 countries across the utilities, energy, digital infrastructure, transport, environmental infrastructure, and social infrastructure sectors providing essential services to millions of people around the world. 

About Zero Infinity Partners: 
Founded in 2022, Zero Infinity Partners (ZIP) is pioneering the infra-tech investing category. ZIP invests in founders and companies looking to deploy innovative technologies and business ideas in the global infrastructure sectors, including energy, power, mobility, logistics, data, water, and waste. ZIP offers the vision, discipline and deep infra ecosystem understanding essential to futureproofing and advancing the systems that keep the world in motion – through the following innovations: digitization & automation, decarbonization & electrification, and differentiated project development.

About TriplePoint Capital:
TriplePoint Capital is a Sand Hill Road-based global investment platform which provides customized debt financing, leasing, direct equity investments and other complementary solutions to venture capital-backed companies in technology and other high growth industries. Since TriplePoint’s launch in 2006, they’ve provided more than $10 billion in commitments to more than 1,000 venture capital-backed companies across the globe.

SOURCE CheckSammy

WATERTOWN, Mass., Jan. 24, 2024 — ZWI Therapeutics, Inc. (ZWI), a biotechnology company focused on the development of protein therapeutics using proprietary new polymers, announces a Series A financing, the appointment of pharmaceutical industry veterans Drs. Larry Miller and Ron Cohen as Independent Directors to the company’s Board of Directors, and Dr. Ed Mascioli as Chief Executive Officer and Board Director.

“After closing our Series A $10 million financing from Co-win Ventures and Sherpa Healthcare Partners, engaging such high caliber executives in our company is a testimony to the confidence successful entrepreneurs see in the ZWI technology. Ed Mascioli’s significant experience leading multiple biotech companies is important in our Company’s growth” said Dr. Shaoyi Jiang, the Robert Langer ’70 Family and Friends Professor at Cornell University, ZWI Board member, and co-founder. “As board members, Ron and Larry collectively bring decades of successful pharmaceutical industry experience to ZWI. We will utilize their extensive expertise as ZWI advances its pipeline of wholly-owned and differentiated candidates that aim to tackle immunogenicity of protein therapeutics – a major challenge in biologics development” said Dr. Mascioli. ZWI created new polymers, based on polycarboxybetaine, with several advantages over polyethylene glycol (PEG), including reduced immunogenicity and preserved pharmacokinetics, and can be used on many protein therapeutics, lipid nanoparticles, and hydrogels. These novel polymers are supported by dozens of issued and pending patents and over 300 publications.

ZWI’s lead program, ZWI-001 (uricase-polycarboxybetaine conjugate), has demonstrated preclinical proof of concept and is currently in development to treat hyperuricemia in severe gout. ZWI has gained meaningful guidance on CMC, non-clinical, and clinical plans from the FDA via an INTERACT meeting and is progressing toward filing an IND.

About ZWI Therapeutics, Inc.

ZWI, founded in 2020 by Drs. Bob Langer and Shaoyi Jiang, is a biotechnology company using a novel, patented polymer, polycarboxybetaine, to develop protein-polymer conjugates with potentially superior safety and efficacy over currently marketed therapeutics conjugated with polyethylene glycol (PEG). I n preclinical animal models, polycarboxybetaine conjugates have demonstrated consistently low or no immunogenicity and excellent pharmacokinetics compared to PEG conjugates. These attributes are expected to translate to enhanced clinical durability and safety compared to pegylated drugs. The ZWI platform polymer technology is also broadly useful in the development of nanoparticles and hydrogels, the latter especially for cellular therapies. ZWI will out-license its technology to pharmaceutical companies for specific development programs. ZWI is headquartered in Waltham, MA, USA. For more information about ZWI platforms and pipeline, please visit www.zwitx.com, follow up on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/zwitx or contact us at [email protected].

About Gout

Gout is diagnosed in 3.9% of the U.S. population- up to 13 million patients – and is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis. Gout is a serious, lifelong disease that needs ongoing treatment and requires changes in lifestyle habits to achieve control. If poorly treated, advanced gout can lead to the same level of work loss, physical disability, and diminished quality of life as is seen in advanced rheumatoid arthritis. Gouty arthritis is caused by an accumulation of uric acid crystals in joints that causes severe pain, disfigurement and mobility restrictions. Uric acid crystals can also deposit in other tissues throughout the body, such as the kidney, which can lead to kidney stones, the skin (deposits called tophi) and even in vasculature walls. Beyond pain and disability, deposition of uric acid crystals triggers the inflammatory cascade and contributes to well-known comorbidities, including thromboses, stroke, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Control of uric acid levels is the key to controlling gout and the inflammatory sequelae. Approximately 5-10% of patients, estimated at 250,000-400,000 people in the US, treated with oral urate lowering therapies do not respond adequately, and are termed refractory gout. Only one product is currently approved to treat refractory gout: KRYSTEXXA® (pegloticase, pegylated uricase). Refractory gout is an area of significant unmet medical need in a large market.

Ron Cohen, M.D. is President, CEO, and founder of Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., a public biotechnology company developing therapies for disorders of the nervous system. Dr. Cohen previously was an officer of Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the growth of human organ tissues for transplantation uses. Dr. Cohen serves on the Boards of ZWI Therapeutics and of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). He is past Chair of the Board of BIO’s Emerging Companies Section, and of the New York Biotechnology Association (NYBA). He is a recipient of the NY CEO Lifetime Achievement Award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the New York Metropolitan Region. He was named Neuroinvestment’s CEO of the Year and is an inductee of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association’s “Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame”. Dr. Cohen has been recognized by the NYBA as the “The Cures Start Here” Business Leader of the Year, by the Westchester County Association as its Leadership Award recipient, by Life Science Leader Magazine as True Life Science Leader of the Year, by PR Week/MM&M as one of the Health Influencer 50, by Scientific American as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Biotech, and by PharmaVOICE Magazine as one of the 100 Most Inspirational People in the Biopharmaceutical Industry. Dr. Cohen received his B.A. degree from Princeton University, and his M.D. from the Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia Medical Center, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine.

Larry Miller, M.D. currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair of Apnimed, a private biotechnology company which he co-founded in 2017 to develop therapeutics to treat obstructive sleep apnea. Since 1991, Dr. Miller has founded or co-founded 10 life sciences/healthcare companies including Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, HPR, Avicenna, PharMetrics, ImpactRx, Serenex, Optio Research, Tetraphase, and Activate, and has served as CEO or Board member or both in each case. Two of these companies completed public offerings and seven were acquired. Dr. Miller also co-founded the Mediphase funds, where he led investments in both private and public life sciences/healthcare companies, having served previously in a similar role at Hambrecht & Quist Capital Management. Dr. Miller received an A.B. from Harvard College, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and completed clinical training in internal medicine and pulmonary disease at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Clinical Pharmacology.

Ed Mascioli, M.D. has been CEO of multiple private biotech companies, successfully selling two. Prior to his role as CEO, Dr Mascioli was a Venture Partner at SV Life Sciences. Previously, Dr. Mascioli was at Pfizer where he established a new unit in rare, orphan, and genetic diseases with assets aggregated from both external to and within Pfizer in hemophilia, muscular dystrophy, hereditary emphysema, cystic fibrosis, and mucopolysaccharidoses. Dr. Mascioli was also at MPM Capital, a leading healthcare venture capital firm with over $2.5B assets under management, where he led 10 financings totaling $299M, including new equity investments, bridge loans, and equity re-financings. Dr. Mascioli participated in the raising of two venture funds totaling $1.4B. As the investor representative, Dr. Mascioli has served as a Director on the Boards of Arriva Pharmaceuticals, Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Mindset BioPharmaceuticals, and Oxagen, Ltd., and as an Observer on the Boards of CGI Pharmaceuticals, Radius Health, and Peptimmune. Dr. Mascioli started his career on the faculty of Harvard Medical School as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and on the staff of the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston. Dr. Mascioli holds an M.S. from MIT, an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and a B.A., cum laude, from Brandeis University.

Co-win Ventures was founded in 2009 and is a top-tier China headquartered venture capital firm with a global vision to invest in high-tech and healthcare industries. With over USD 950 million under management to date, it has invested in more than 130 private companies with about half of them already exited through IPOs and M&A. Co-win has won multiple national and world-renowned venture capital awards. With professional teams based in China and the US, Co-Win becomes seeks to become a long-term partner for portfolio start-ups, assisting in building their companies, integrating industrial resources, and navigating with strategic insights.

Sherpa Healthcare Partners was founded in 2018 by financiers who previously worked together in one of China’s leading venture capital firms where they built and led its professional medical investment team, including setting up and leading investments in a dedicated healthcare fund. The founders have been teamed together in close co-operation, built on shared values, mutual trust, and complementary capabilities. Sherpa has now become an influential healthcare VC firm in the industry.

SOURCE ZWI Therapeutics

SAUSALITO, Calif., Jan. 24, 2024 — 38 Degrees North, a community solar and distributed renewables platform, has closed on a growth equity investment from S2G Ventures (“S2G”), a leading multi-stage investment firm focused on the energy transition, food, agriculture, and oceans. The company has also entered into an agreement to acquire community solar assets from Community Power Group (“CPG”) in New York.

Founded in 2015 and based in Sausalito, California, 38 Degrees North is an established platform focused on development-stage and construction-ready distributed generation and community solar projects. To date, the company has successfully aggregated, financed, constructed, and managed over 400 MW across over 100 projects through partnerships with high-quality institutional investor partners.

With the investment from S2G, 38 Degrees North looks to accelerate its growth by partnering with local communities, customers, and community and distributed solar and storage developers to deploy capital into assets across the development spectrum. Leveraging its project finance expertise, the 38 Degrees North team aims to support developers and projects through the remainder of development and into operations. As a long-term owner of projects, 38 Degrees North works with developers in an open fashion to design tailored capital solutions and establish clear visibility to portfolio value creation.

As part of the transaction, S2G’s Priyanka Duvvuru and Francis O’Sullivan will join 38 Degrees North’s board of directors.

“S2G is excited to be partnering with the industry veterans at 38 Degrees North to help drive the next phase of the company’s growth,” said Priyanka Duvvuru, Principal at S2G. “We continue to be impressed by the management team’s thoughtful structuring approach, extensive execution experience and demonstrated resilience through historical uncertainties in the solar market, which we believe positions the platform well for the future.”

With the CPG agreement, 38 Degrees North will acquire a portfolio of 10 community solar projects totaling 62 megawatts in New York state. This partnership represents the first acquisition funded in collaboration with S2G and establishes a scaled foundation for the community solar platform as the company comes to the market for tax equity and debt raises in 2024.

“We believe creative capital solutions for developer partners are critical to enable the deployment of community solar and distributed renewables assets across the U.S.,” said Ryan Bennett, Managing Director at 38 Degrees North. “S2G’s flexible growth capital will allow us to support projects across the development spectrum and be the partner of choice for developers and communities across the market.”

“We are thrilled to be partnering with S2G on the next evolution of our business,” said Chris Bailey, Managing Director at 38 Degrees North. “We have the right team, culture and capital partnership to accelerate our growth in this highly dynamic market.”

Added Jake Carney, the third founder and Managing Director of 38 Degrees North, “This growth capital provides us with flexible firepower to take compelling positions in distributed generation and community solar assets, while broadening our ability to innovate in new markets and technologies.”

Norton Rose Fulbright was legal counsel for S2G and Vinson & Elkins served as 38 Degrees North’s legal advisor.

About 38 Degrees North | 38 Degrees North is an experienced developer and operator specializing in distributed generation, community solar, and other middle market sustainable infrastructure assets. The managing partners have a track record of over 4 GW of successful renewable energy project development and financings across a variety of project technologies and stages of development. For more information, please visit: www.38degreesn.com.

About S2G Ventures | S2G Ventures partners with entrepreneurs who are working on solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges across the food, agriculture, oceans, and energy markets. The firm provides capital, mentorship, and value-added resources to companies pursuing innovative market-based solutions that generate positive social, environmental, and financial returns. S2G structures flexible capital solutions that can range from seed and venture funding through growth equity to debt and infrastructure financing. For more information about S2G, visit s2gventures.com or connect with us on LinkedIn.

About Community Power Group | Community Power Group (“CPG”) has a seasoned staff of developers and engineers that specialize in greenfield, brownfield and commercial roof top solar development. Since 2012, CPG has been working with landowners, municipalities, non-profits and other agricultural groups to develop more than 500 MW of best-in-class and cost-effective solar projects throughout the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions. For more information, please visit: www.communitypowergroup.com.

Media Contact:
Chelsea Hokenson
[email protected] 

SOURCE 38 Degrees North

• Production ramp-up of robotic hamburger cooking solution ‘Alpha Grill’ to begin in early 2024
• Cloud-based, artificial intelligence (AI) software features to be unveiled in May

NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2024 — Aniai, a fast-growing robotic company and global leader in innovative kitchen solutions, has successfully secured a $12 million pre-Series A funding round. Led by InterVest, one of the largest venture capital firms in South Korea, the round includes investments from new investors, such as SV Investment and UK-based Ignite Innovation, as well as from an existing investor, Capstone Partners. This most recent investment brings Aniai’s total funding to date to $15 million.

Founded in 2020, Aniai is a groundbreaking startup spearheading the innovation, development, and commercialization of a robotic solution for cooking hamburgers. Its flagship product, ‘Alpha Grill,’ leverages robotics for efficient hamburger cooking, boasting a double-sided grill that can cook up to eight patties simultaneously or 200 patties per hour. When Alpha Grill is deployed in a kitchen, restaurant brands can streamline operations by eliminating repetitive tasks associated with hamburger patty cooking tasks such as pressing and flipping. This not only reduces cooking time but also decreases labor intensity for employees.

“Aniai has successfully completed a round of funding from both domestic and international investors who have recognized our innovative solutions, future potential and remarkable progress within the foodservice industry to date,” said Gunpil Hwang, CEO and co-Founder of Aniai. “This capital infusion will help our mission to improve kitchen productivity through robotics and automation while helping us ramp-up production to meet current and future demand. Additionally, Aniai plans to augment its robotic solutions by adding advanced, cloud-based, AI software to further enhance the capabilities and performance of the Alpha Grill early this year, which will benefit new and existing Aniai customers.”

The upcoming software release for Alpha Grill will include a feature that will employ AI to discern the color of the hamburger patties and assess their quality through real-time vision sensors during the cooking process. For instance, if a hamburger patty does not meet brand’s cooking specifications and requirements, the Alpha Grill promptly notifies the cooking staff, ensuring rigorous and enhanced quality control. The latest cloud-based, AI feature from Aniai will make its debut at the National Restaurant Association Show, an industry leading foodservice trade show, in May.

With its most recent funding round, Aniai will fast-track the launch of its first dedicated manufacturing facility called Factory One in South Korea to help ensure stable production and supply chain management for Alpha Grill, aligning with its ongoing North American and global expansion efforts. Aniai’s Factory One has the capacity to produce over 1,000 Alpha Grill units per year.  

“Aniai has demonstrated its market prowess by successfully commercializing its innovative cooking robots, thereby delivering industry-leading profitable impact to its customers,” said a representative from the lead investor, InterVest. “The company enhanced its value by pioneering a new market and securing substantial contracts within a brief timeframe. We look forward to seeing the positive impact that Aniai’s cooking robots will make on the U.S. Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry.”

Aniai, headquartered in New York City, has been piloting Alpha Grill with several leading North American hamburger brands since Q3 of 2023, targeting multiple implementations and initial rollouts within the next twelve months. The company has already successfully deployed Alpha Grill to seven South Korean hamburger franchises, including DOWN TOWNER, BAS Burger, CJ Freshway, and Mom’s Touch. Furthermore, Aniai has recently announced new partnership with Lotteria, Teisty Burger, and Fault Burger, securing 500 Alpha Grill pre-orders for delivery beginning early in Q1 of 2024.

In 2023, Aniai secured a $3 million seed round investment led by Capstone Partners and Lotte Ventures. The company was also awarded the 2023 Kitchen Innovations Award at the National Restaurant Association Show.

About Aniai (www.aniai.ai)
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in New York City, Aniai is a global innovator in automation and AI within the foodservice sector. The company’s mission is to empower restaurants to improve their kitchen operations by delivering intelligent solutions that increase production, reduce costs and enhance quality and service.
Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aniai  

SOURCE Aniai

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 23, 2024 — DoveHill Capital Management (DoveHill), known for its hospitality-centric unique approach in the real estate space, is launching DoveHill Opportunity Fund II (Fund II), an investment vehicle focused on three competitive-edge strategies: 1) Experiential Hotels; 2) Structured Equity and 3) Opportunistic Value-Add.

With Fund II, DoveHill aims to raise $30 million to further capitalize on its highly differentiated strategies and seeks long-term partners who appreciate the unique advantages of both on- and off-market deals and the ability to invest directly with a vertically integrated investment manager.

Founder and CEO Jake Wurzak says, “We enjoy the unique advantage of being able to source both on- and off-market deals for our investors. DoveHill has always had an advantage in sourcing opportunities not only through brokers but also through our relationships and reputation in the industry. We’ve created an investment ecosystem allowing us to invest in various parts of the capital stack with best-in-class institutional partners, family offices, and high-net-worth investors. In short, we offer our partners entry into a spectrum of deals that they could not otherwise access.”

Fund II is founded on the strategies of DoveHill’s Fund I, which had ten investments totaling over 4,600 keys and $640M under management within three years, producing an expected gross equity multiple over 2.0x and 20% IRR. Preferred equity investments made within Fund I represented 50% of the Fund’s investments and 90% of the investments in the Fund were sourced through our proprietary off-market network.

Preferred equity will remain a key focus of Fund II, given the current market cycle which is allowing for asymmetric return that is further enhanced by DoveHill’s proven ability to structure unique preferred equity investments and act as a strategic partner.

The core strategies of Fund II, as with Fund I, are opportunistic on- and off-market acquisitions, structured equity, and experiential hospitality in markets with high barriers to entry.

Traveler preferences have shifted post-pandemic and now more than ever travel experiences are prioritized over many other discretionary personal and corporate expenditures which will result in significant value creation opportunities for non-commoditized hotels.

Executive Vice President for Investments Charles Paloux states, “Our focus is on unique deals where we can add immediate value. We have access to deals most don’t, and this allows us to establish a track record that has put us at the table with best-in-class funds in the space.”

With Wurzak Hotel Group, DoveHill’s affiliate management company, the company has boots-on-the-ground, oversight on every deal, and strategic relationships. DoveHill distinguishes itself as an operator in the real estate space by creating operational leverage through its proprietary knowledge.

About DoveHill Capital Management

Established in 2011 and headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, DoveHill Capital Management is a vertically integrated hospitality investment and development organization.

As part of its strategic vision and after investing at attractive entry points, DoveHill works to remodel and/or redesign the real estate to create both operational efficiencies and memorable guest experiences.

The company focuses on value-add and other strategies to create a unique sense of place to trigger lasting impressions that drive long-term results for our partners and investors.

DoveHill prioritizes environmental, social, and governance principles in the designs and operations of all investments. The company aims to further integrate an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible approach to the growth of its portfolio of highly differentiated hotel properties.

For more information about DoveHill Capital Management and Fund II:

Visit: www.dovehillcos.com

Investor Contact: Investor Relations – [email protected]

Media Contact: Meaghan Peeler – [email protected]  215-689-0245

SOURCE DoveHill Capital Management, LLC

Dr. Anika A. Evans to lead the inaugural program training students from the nation’s 107  HBCUs for a wide range of public service careers and announces summer opportunities for HBCU students nationwide. 

ATLANTA, Jan. 23, 2024 — The Atlanta University Center Consortium’s Center for Public Service received $2M in funding in May 2023 to begin a Center for Excellence in Public & Government Service and has moved forward with building programming, an upcoming summer cohort, and the most integral piece, the hiring of Program Manager, Dr. Anika A. Evans.  

Evans has more than 10+ years of experience in education and excels at identifying and overhauling barriers within programs, systems, and processes. She has guided collaborative teams in the implementation of corrective plans and identifying project needs to drive process improvements.

“After a national search, I am excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Anika Evans as the Program Manager of the Atlanta University Center Consortium’s Center of Excellence for Public Service. Her leadership ensures the AUCC will be the quintessential hub for training, preparing via paid internships, and placing students from HBCUs into careers in the federal government, said Dr. Said Sewell, Director, Office of Academics, Research and Student Success of the AUCC.  

“It’s an honor to be endowed with the responsibility of leading the program development for the Center for Excellence in Public & Government Service. Thank you to the Inc. leadership team for seeing the value of my experience and passion for equity in Public & Government Service access. It is time for this monumental initiative to take flight and change lives. Excellence is the standard and that is what will be delivered,” Dr. Evans said. 

After several years in higher education, Dr. Evans pivoted into the non-profit sector as Senior Director of Programs for a community development center. Dr. Evans joined the executive leadership team to set strategic goals and direct nonprofit programming, with a focus on securing and managing new partnerships. Dr. Evans has been credited for being an innovative visionary through the overhauling of outdated processes and implementing systems to increase efficiency and streamline operations. 

According to Dr. Sewell, “Dr. Evans’ experience with HBCUs, specifically academic and student success, and professional network in all levels of public service, will prove invaluable to the success of this new center.” 

In addition to leading the program, Dr. Evan’s is also debuting the A.T.I. Summer Leadership Training program now open for a summer 2024 Cohort. According to Dr. Evans, the Center for Excellence in Public and Government Service will be the premier pipeline for HBCU student preparation in public and government service and this is a monumental opportunity for HBCU students around the country. Selected scholars will glean from local, state, and federal level representatives. Scholars will receive hands-on experience with building a federal resume, navigating internship and fellowship applications, as well as building a professional brand. Applications can be found here.

CONTACT: Teresa Southern
14783207753
tsouthern@aucenter.edu

SOURCE Atlanta University Center Consortium

Mitra Diversified Fund I Utilizes an Innovative Structure to Allow Investors to Customize Risk and Return, Closing with $36 Million of Aggregate Commitments.

ATLANTA, Jan. 23, 2024 — Mitra Investment Partners (“Mitra”), an emerging private real estate investment manager, proudly announces the successful closing of Mitra Diversified Fund I, raises its inaugural investment fund focused on value-add self-storage and industrial flex real estate across the country.

Fundraising Success: Mitra significantly surpasses its initial target of $25 million underscored by a total fundraising of $36 million in just 9 months.

Deployment Momentum: Mitra is outpacing their deployment schedule for the fund, having successfully executed 10 acquisitions across 7 states, totaling 356,000 net rentable square feet, constructing a diversified portfolio across asset type, size and geography.

Tech Enabled Operations: In collaboration with its operating company, Forward Storage, Mitra is focused on tech-enabled operations to improve profitability and drive attractive returns for its investors.

Sumeet Patel, Co-Founder, shares, “This successful fundraise empowers Mitra to execute our strategy and expand our platform. It is a testament to investor confidence in our ability to cultivate unique opportunities, as evident through the stellar performance of our initial investments coupled with the uniqueness of our innovative fund structure. We are deeply appreciative of the support of our approximately ~170 investors and remain committed to delivering attractive returns with disciplined risk management.”

Praveen Reddy, Co-Founder, adds, “We intentionally built both Mitra and Forward Storage from the ground up and have enhanced our capacity to effectively match capital with the boundless opportunities before us. Our success is driven by an exceptional team coupling creative thinking with investment precision, all while we sustain an unwavering focus on operational excellence. We are thrilled to continue delivering exceptional results on behalf of our investors.”

About Mitra Investment Partners

Mitra Investment Partners is a private real estate investment firm specializing in the acquisition and operation of self-storage and industrial-flex assets in select markets. Mitra’s mission is to construct a diverse real estate portfolio and drive returns through operational efficiency in a complex landscape. As of December 31st, 2023, Mitra manages approximately $100 million in real estate assets, spanning ~1 million square feet across 12 states. For additional information, please visit www.investwithmitra.com. Connect with us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Mitra Investment Partners

Company advancing novel live tumor imaging diagnostic platform

MADISON, Wis., Jan. 23, 2024 — Elephas Biosciences Corporation (Elephas), a private company, announced today that it has raised $55 million in Series C funding. Venture Investors Health Fund and State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) led the round. Continuing investments were made by Northpond Ventures, ARCH Ventures, Sands Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, Tao Invest, and WARF Ventures. With this $55 million Series C funding, this brings the total raised by Elephas to $116.5 million.

Elephas is developing an oncology imaging diagnostics platform to predict response to immunotherapy using the latest advances in metabolic imaging. The platform utilizes live patient biopsies with intact native tumor architecture and treats them with potential therapies to predict response to treatment. The basis of the platform is to visualize immune cell activity including T cell activation and cytotoxic mediated killing. Read more about the latest scientific data presented by Elephas at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) meeting in November 2023 here.

Elephas is conducting observational clinical trials to demonstrate that a patient’s clinical response to immunotherapy is correlated to the response data obtained by the Elephas platform, adding confidence the data generated from the platform can be used to predict response. The company also launched their biopharma services offering in 2023, partnering with biopharma companies to accelerate immunotherapy drug development using the Elephas platform.

Oncology drugs remain the largest pharmaceutical therapeutic area, with immunotherapies emerging in the last decade as powerful tools in the fight against cancer. However, despite the significant increase in the number of available immunotherapies, only 1 in 3 patients receiving immunotherapy frontline obtain a response and many who may respond are not eligible for therapy due to a lack of accurate predictive biomarkers. 

“We remain intensely focused on our mission to improve care for cancer patients,” stated Maneesh Arora, founder and CEO of Elephas. “Supported by world class venture firms we are committed to building a platform that can help guide clinicians and enhance access to life-changing immunotherapies.”

“The Elephas platform holds immense promise to address a critical unmet need in predicting response to immunotherapy,” Venture Investors Health Fund’s Paul Weiss, added. “We are excited to work side by side with the company to pioneer a new diagnostic era for immunotherapy that will improve both access to therapy and outcomes for patients.”

XMS Capital Partners acted as financial advisor to the company.

About Elephas 

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, with the number of patients projected to triple by 2060. Despite a significant increase in the number of available immunotherapies, only 1 in 3 patients receiving immunotherapy frontline obtain a response and many who may respond are not eligible for therapy due to lack of accurate predictive biomarkers. With the mission to tackle the massive oncology dilemma, Elephas is developing an ex-vivo platform to assess how live patient biopsies respond to immunotherapies. Our unique approach maintains the native 3-dimensional cellular architecture and micro-environment of the tumor, enabling rapid real-time characterization of live tumor response to immunotherapies using the latest advances in metabolic imaging. To learn more, visit us at www.elephas.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Venture Investors Health Fund

Venture Investors is a premier provider of venture capital funding and company building expertise to early-stage healthcare companies. With a Midwest focus and national reach, they have a track record of working with passionate entrepreneurs to advance solutions to the market that address the world’s biggest health challenges. Venture Investors is focused on investment opportunities in healthcare, principally those emerging from ecosystems surrounding major research universities in the Midwest. Formed in 1982, Venture Investors has offices strategically located next to the country’s second and sixth largest research institutions in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Madison, Wisconsin. For more information, please visit https://ventureinvestors.com.

About State of Wisconsin Investment Board

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), created in 1951, is an independent state agency responsible for managing the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), the State Investment Fund (SIF), and other state trust funds. As of December 31, 2023, SWIB managed $155 billion of total assets, 85% representing WRS assets. SWIB’s strong management of the trust funds has helped WRS remain one of the only fully funded U.S. public pension plans. SWIB provides a strong, steady economic pillar for the state of Wisconsin by growing the trust funds under its management, managing risk, and optimizing costs over the long term.

About ARCH Venture Partners

ARCH Venture Partners invests in life science and advanced technology companies and is one of the world’s leading early-stage venture firms. The firm is a recognized leader in commercializing technologies developed at academic institutions, corporate research groups and national laboratories. ARCH invests primarily in companies it co-founds with leading scientists and entrepreneurs, bringing innovations in life sciences and physical sciences to market. For more information visit www.archventure.com.

About Northpond Ventures 

Northpond Ventures is a multi-billion dollar science-driven venture capital firm based in Cambridge, MA; San Francisco, CA; and Bethesda, MD. Northpond has been named one of the three most active lead biotech investors in 2021 by Crunchbase, and the most active lead investor in life science solutions and molecular diagnostics by Silicon Valley Bank. It is particularly engaged in the research ecosystem, having founded a bioengineering laboratory at Harvard, and sponsored a prize for women entrepreneurs at MIT. It has led over 50 financings over the past several years, with a high percentage having an academic origin. Learn more at npv.vc. 

About Moore Strategic Ventures

Moore Strategic Ventures, LLC is the privately held investment company for Louis M. Bacon, Founder and CEO of Moore Capital Management, LP.

About Tao Capital Partners

Tao Capital Partners is a family office that invests in technology, alternative energy and transportation, healthcare, education, sustainable food & agriculture, consumer, and real estate businesses that have a positive impact. Tao is an active investor with the ability to support companies through various stages of their life-cycle.

About Sands Capital

Sands Capital is an active, long-term investor in leading innovative businesses globally. Our approach combines analytical rigor and creative thinking to identify high-quality growth businesses that are creating the future. Through an integrated investment platform spanning venture capital, growth equity and public equity, we provide growth capital solutions to institutions and fund sponsors in more than 40 countries.

About WARF Ventures

WARF Ventures actively invests in startups with University of Wisconsin-Madison technology and has done so over two decades. WARF Ventures is part of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) which helps steward the cycle of research, discovery, commercialization, and investment for the university. WARF manages more than 2,000 patents and an investment portfolio as it funds university research, obtains patents for campus discoveries and licenses inventions to industry. For more information, visit warf.org and view WARF’s Cycle of Innovation. 

Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Elephas