Organic, airbrush tanning concept announces national franchise development plan

BOSTON, Nov. 2, 2023 — Pure Glow, the healthy, fun, and safe alternative to conventional spray tans, has announced it has raised $1.4 million in seed funding and plans to expand its national footprint through franchising. The brand is looking for passionate entrepreneurs who want to bring an organic, non-toxic and elevated sunless tanning experience to their local communities.

With two locations open in Massachusetts, the Boston-based brand has invested in evolving the look and feel of its brand, recruiting experienced franchise executives, and is ready to expand throughout the tri-state area, as well as Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix and Miami to start with.

Lauren Rampello Becotte, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Pure Glow, grew up struggling with acne and spent many years learning to understand the limitations of self-tanning products and services. After turning to airbrush tanning, she spent a decade funding her own research and developing an organic and non-toxic formula that naturally reacts with the skin’s melanin to mimic a natural tan.

Aside from providing customers with transparency in their ingredients and services, Pure Glow is striving to make inclusivity amongst skin types an industry-standard in the tanning world.

“More people are becoming increasingly conscious of what goes on and into their skin,” Rampello Becotte said. “Pure Glow provides a tan that is smell-free, long-lasting, naturally-fading, and made with certified organic, deeply nourishing ingredients. Our expert airbrush application considers every shape, contour and curve to offer perfectly natural results, every single time.”

Beyond the strategy for franchise growth, Pure Glow raised the seed funding to provide the right foundations of support before bringing on their first franchisees. Over the past six months, Pure Glow has launched a new version of its website, partnered with award-winning Heitler-Houstoun design architects to create the studio’s new look and feel, and hired key franchise executives to assist with its expansion plans.

Maripat Pacino, who acted as the lead investor, saw an unmatched opportunity within the franchise beauty industry with Pure Glow.

“As a Drybar franchisee, I understand the pain points all beauty franchise concepts experience with the recruitment and retention of licensed employees,” Pacino said. “Pure Glow has a simplified operations model with fewer employees, no license requirements, and a service time of less than 15 minutes. I am excited to help Lauren and the team understand the needs of a franchisee within the beauty franchise industry.”

Sunless tanning is one of the few beauty services that do not require providers to get licensing, making it an easy-to-enter franchise opportunity with no red tape. With a solid franchise support system and flexible scheduling that allows franchisees to nurture their work-life balance, the brand’s franchise model is supportive and driven by customer and franchisee satisfaction.

“Everyone deserves to have their outer glow match their inner glow. People with vitiligo, eczema, acne, or any other kind of skin condition have an incredibly difficult time finding skincare and beauty supplies, let alone a suitable self-tanner that doesn’t irritate their skin,” Rampello Becotte said. “Pure Glow is for everybody. We are interested in teaming up with passionate franchisees who want to make people feel good about themselves.”

About Pure Glow

Open since 2015 and franchising since 2023, Pure Glow is the airbrush tanning concept that is committed to re-defining what it means to provide a healthy and high-quality sunless tan. With two locations open and operating in Boston, the brand is looking for excitable, friendly and fun franchisees who are interested in defining the industry standard around safe, organic and effective sunless tanning. The average cost to open a Pure Glow studio ranges from $335,700 to $661,850. For more information on franchising, please visit https://www.pureglow.com/franchise

Contact: Maddy Reda, Franchise Elevator (847-945-1300 Ext. 255) |
[email protected]  

SOURCE Pure Glow

LONDON, Nov. 2, 2023 — Accelex, a leading provider of AI automation for private markets data acquisition, reporting and analytics, announced today it has closed a $15 million Series A funding round led by FactSet, a global financial digital platform and enterprise solutions provider, with participation from existing investors Illuminate Financial, AlbionVC, SixThirty Ventures and Expon Capital.

The capital infusion comes at a time of rapid growth for Accelex, allowing the firm to further expand operations, enhance product capabilities, and deliver exceptional client success. This transaction strengthens the relationship between the two firms, with Accelex’s technology already a key enabler in FactSet’s private markets growth strategy.

Transparency is vital for investors. However, unlike traditional assets, investments in private markets are plagued by unstructured content, often requiring expensive and error-prone manual processing. Accelex is transforming the way investors tackle these challenges by leveraging market-leading data science to automate the end-to-end workflows from document acquisition and data extraction to reporting and analytics. FactSet and Accelex are bringing innovation to the alternative assets industry, ultimately providing clients with solutions to better understand the drivers of investment performance.

“Data-driven decision-making is critical for our clients, particularly as their portfolios increase in exposure to private capital, where the acquisition, aggregation, and analysis of investment data has been a challenge,” said Rob Robie, Executive Vice President, Head of Institutional Buyside at FactSet.  “We are thrilled to partner with Accelex on this journey to bring innovative solutions to private markets, united by our shared commitment to empowering the alternative investment community with superior data and analytics, enabling better investment outcomes.”

“This partnership will solidify our position as a leader in the alternative investment data management and analytics space,” added Michael Aldridge, President at Accelex. “Today we serve some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investors, and their service providers, delivering better data, faster while reducing their operational burden.”

“We are delighted with the completion of this latest financing round with FactSet and the continued support from our financial partners,” remarked Franck Vialaron, Chief Executive at Accelex. “This further validates the Accelex team, our approach to innovation, and the unique value proposition we offer our private markets clients.”

This funding comes at an exciting time for Accelex. During the past 24 months the firm has embarked on a phenomenal growth trajectory, adding a large number of top-tier asset owners and allocators along with asset servicers and service providers as clients. These firms now represent a combined asset base of over $1.5 trillion, invested in more than 13,000 private market funds across 4,000 asset managers.

Zelig Capital Partners acted as financial advisor and Goodwin Procter LLP acted as legal advisor to Accelex. Mills & Reeve LLP acted as legal advisor to FactSet.

About Accelex

Founded in 2018, Accelex provides data acquisition, analytics and reporting solutions for alternative investors and asset servicers, enabling firms to access the full potential of critical investment performance and transaction data. Powered by proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, Accelex solutions automate processes for extraction, analysis and sharing of difficult-to-access unstructured data. Accelex is headquartered in London, with offices in Paris, Luxembourg, New York, and Toronto. Find out more at www.accelextech.com and follow Accelex on LinkedIn.

About FactSet

FactSet (NYSE:FDS| NASDAQ:FDS) helps the financial community to see more, think bigger, and work better. Our digital platform and enterprise solutions deliver financial data, analytics, and open technology to nearly 8,000 global clients, including almost 190,000 individual users. Clients across the buy-side and sell-side as well as wealth managers, private equity firms, and corporations achieve more every day with our comprehensive and connected content, flexible next-generation workflow solutions, and client-centric specialized support. As a member of the S&P 500, we are committed to sustainable growth and have repeatedly scored 100 on the Human Rights Campaign® Corporate Equality Index. We have been recognized amongst the Best Places to Work in 2023 by Glassdoor as a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award winner. Learn more at www.factset.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2037532/3949332/Accelex_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Accelex

DRIVE Catalyst, the venture capital arm of the Far Eastern Group, is investing US$5 million in Ambercycle to support the construction of the circular polyester startup’s commercial-scale facility to scale up textile-to-textile regeneration in the apparel industry.

LOS ANGELES and TAIPEI, Nov. 2, 2023 — DRIVE Catalyst, the investment arm of Taiwanese conglomerate Far Eastern Group, one of the world’s largest virgin and recycled polyester textile makers, has invested US$5 million in Ambercycle as part of a strategic effort to scale textile-to-textile regeneration in the apparel industry.

The initial investment will support the scale-up of cycora®, the startup’s circular polyester made from end-of-life textile waste. It is the first step in a broader plan to jointly collaborate on building the textile-to-textile ecosystem.

“Decarbonized raw materials, such as cycora®, appeal to our customers’ demand and strong support for sustainable fashion. Textile-to-textile regeneration will be crucial in shifting to a fossil-free fashion industry. However, the production infrastructure must be scaled to fulfill the business requirements of large fashion brands and their customers. With Ambercycle as a partner, we can make significant strides forward,” says Juliana Pidner Hsu, Managing Director.

While circular textile solutions are rapidly advancing, wider adoption requires continuous infrastructure development. Global infrastructure to collect and distribute discarded textiles to facilities that can use them as feedstock in the production of regenerated textiles must be scaled. The manufacturing of sustainable textiles must also become more robust, offering brands and designers the diversity of yarns, fabrics, and raw materials currently available from non-recycled, fossil fuel-based sources.

“We have a deep conviction in circularity and the commercial viability of cycora® in the highest quality applications in apparel. For circularity to scale, integration across the entire value chain is essential. We are looking forward to working with world-class partners like Far Eastern Group to bring significant product and business expertise to Ambercycle’s cutting-edge manufacturing innovation,” says Shay Sethi, Co-Founder and CEO of Ambercycle.

As one of several strategic initiatives, the partnership will draw from Far Eastern Group’s 70 years of experience in global polyester manufacturing and Ambercycle’s expertise in materials innovation to bring circularity and decarbonization to the apparel industry.

About Ambercycle:
Ambercycle is powering circularity in fashion. Established in 2015, this Los Angeles-based company is revolutionizing the fashion industry with its award-winning molecular regeneration technology.  cycora® regenerated polyester is the company’s first premium material solution made from end-of-life textiles. Driven by the vision to improve humanity’s relationship with materials, Ambercycle is minimizing the impact of raw material extraction on our environment and paving the way to decarbonize fashion.

About Drive Catalyst:
Drive Catalyst is the corporate venture capital arm of the Far Eastern Group (FEG), one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in Taiwan. Backed by FEG and inspired by the group’s many sustainable initiatives and commitments to the circular economy, Drive Catalyst seeks to invest in disruptive technologies in the fields of precision, environment, and efficiency and draw on their network to support innovative founders who can make a difference in the world.

About Far Eastern Group:
Starting from textiles and with more than 70 years of continuous investments and expansions, the Far Eastern Group is one of Taiwan’s largest and most diversified conglomerates. It comprises 247 companies spanning over 10 major industries with nine publicly listed companies. The Group has total assets exceeding US$100 billion and annual revenue surpassing US$24 billion.

For press inquiries, please reach out to press@ambercycle.com

SOURCE Ambercycle

By using AI technology, Treads enables predictive maintenance options on an all-in-one mobile application

PARK CITY, Utah, Nov. 2, 2023 — Treads, an AI-powered car maintenance subscription, announced it has raised a $4.6 million seed funding round led by Mucker Capital with participating investors including Kickstart Seed Fund, Peak Ventures, Royal Street Ventures, and Convoi Ventures. The funds will support Treads’ expansion into 16 additional cities in the U.S., making Treads available in 34 cities by the end of 2023.

Motor vehicle repair prices increased by 20% in the past year due to new technology in cars, older vehicles, and fewer auto repair technicians, making it more difficult to maintain a car’s condition. Routine maintenance is not only important for the everyday car owner but also for gig economy workers like Uber or Lyft drivers who rely on their cars as their primary source of income. Treads is simplifying vehicle maintenance through its all-in-one subscription mobile app that offers subscriptions on tire replacement, wheel alignment, oil changes, and wiper blades. Customers can now have new tires delivered and installed at their home or work, in addition to brick-and-mortar service centers that are part of the Treads Service Network.

“Maintaining a car these days can be a real inconvenience and drain on your wallet, especially if you neglect regular upkeep, which can lead to bigger issues down the road,” said Zach Olson, the CEO and Founder of Treads. “Our goal is to change the way people think about car ownership and maintenance by leveraging advanced AI, introducing emerging auto-tech to consumers, and making car maintenance more affordable through an accessible subscription. With this funding, We look forward to reaching new markets and giving drivers peace of mind knowing that Treads has their tire needs and services covered quickly and more efficiently.

Treads’ subscription helps customers pay for new tires on a monthly basis rather than all at once, making it easier to budget and manage what maintenance is needed from their mobile device. Subscribers can save on average $679 and 16 hours over the lifespan of their tires by using Treads. The company uses AI to provide predictive maintenance updates and visual machine learning to determine when tires are repairable if damaged or when they need to be replaced. Customers scan their tires using the camera on their smartphone through the Treads app and they will automatically receive tire information including size, tread depth, and condition, etc.

“Zach and the team at Treads have executed incredibly over the last couple of years from concept to now growing significantly and thoughtfully into 20+ cities, “said Jon Broscious from Mucker Capital. “The subscription and product have been well received and in high demand from customers; Zach and team have built a quintessential business with great unit economics, a compelling product for consumers, and valuable partnerships with industry leaders. We are excited about this next stage of growth under Zach’s leadership as Treads continues to expand across more cities in the U.S.”

A Treads subscription offers compatibility with all types of vehicles, from traditional gasoline cars to electric and smart vehicles. The platform features an extensive selection of top-tier tire brands, such as Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli, and more. Additionally, its Auto Insurance Marketplace tailors insurance recommendations to your specific car model and budget. Committed to environmental responsibility, Treads allocates 1% of its revenue to initiatives aimed at reducing vehicle carbon emissions, since launching Treads’ contribution is the equivalent of removing the emissions of 29.9 cars for a full year.

To learn more about the Treads subscription, please visit treads.app and download the application from the Apple App Store or Google Play for Android users.

About Treads
Treads is an AI-powered car management subscription designed to make car ownership more enjoyable by eliminating the hassle of car maintenance while making the roads safer for everyone. Treads has users covered for tires, alignments, oil changes, wiper blades, and even auto insurance. The company has raised a total of $4.6 million from Mucker Capital, Kickstart Seed Fund, Peak Ventures, Royal Street Ventures, and Convoi Ventures.

Media Contact
BAM for Treads
[email protected] 

SOURCE Treads App, LLC

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2, 2023 — Govly, a market network for public sector procurement, today announced $9.5 million in Series A funding, bringing its total capital raised since 2019 to $13.1 million. Global software investor Insight Partners led the funding round with participation from YCombinator, FundersClub, and NordicEye. Govly will use the funding to build new products that further its mission of making selling to governments simple and transparent.

The federal procurement process is fraught with red tape, siloed information, and manual processes. Many contracts are not published or available to the public, and those that are end up buried within byzantine government portals. To address this problem, Govly built a platform that is democratizing access to these contracts and creating opportunities for companies operating within the US federal government procurement supply chain.

Govly’s platform makes it easy for users to find, track, and analyze contract requirements across disparate sources, as well as uncover new partners and coordinate stakeholder action throughout procurement processes, from initial solicitation to award. Companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Nutanix, and CDW-G rely on Govly to identify opportunities to sell to the government and to collaborate with their channel partners to prepare and submit bids. Govly plans to extend the platform to serve the US SLED (State, Local, Education) market and government contractors outside the United States.

“Government contracting has remained stagnant for too long. Modernizing this process has been a vision of ours for many years, and as shown by our customers and product adoption, it’s a vision that others working with the federal government are excited about,” said Mike Weiland, Founder and CEO of Govly. “With Insight Partners as an investor, Govly will make big strides in facilitating simple, transparent, and competitive interactions between industry and governments, ultimately benefiting the collective taxpayer.”

“The U.S. federal government acquisition process is complicated and opaque, even to companies already serving government. Using Govly’s platform, companies can make simpler work of identifying contract opportunities, finding partners, and submitting bids,” said Nick Sinai, Senior Advisor at Insight Partners. “We’re excited to work with the Govly team as they continue scaling their platform and drive even more value for the government, suppliers, and the American people.”

About Govly
Founded in 2021, Govly was created with the mission of making public sector procurement simple, transparent and competitive. Over 200 companies use Govly to network with partners, identify opportunities and collaborate on submitting bids. To learn more about Govly, visit www.govly.com.

About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of June 30, 2023, the firm has over $80B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and the Bay Area. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners. 

SOURCE Govly

PFAS, often referred to as “forever chemicals” due to their persistent nature in the environment, have become a major concern worldwide due to their detrimental impact on ecosystems and human health. Aclarity’s Octa™ system offers a sustainable solution for the complete eradication of PFAS contaminants, heralding a new era in wastewater treatment and environmental remediation for landfills, water and wastewater treatment plants, and industrial facilities – where PFAS is particularly prevalent. 

Over the last year, Aclarity has deployed mobile systems with full-scale reactors across the country to destroy PFAS chemicals continuously. This has allowed the team to successfully treat PFAS in waters ranging from low ng/Ls in tap water, all the way to landfill leachate treated by foam fractionation with PFAS concentrations of milligrams per liter, including short-chain compounds like PFBS and demonstrating real time PFAS destruction in the field. Aclarity’s achievements have garnered the attention of groups such as Frost & Sullivan, who awarded Aclarity their Company of the Year Best Practices award for 2023 in the North American PFAS treatment industry. With the support of this investment, Aclarity has broadened its pipeline across several industries requiring PFAS destruction such as the waste industry as well as food and beverage manufacturing and the pulp and paper industry. The Series A funds will play a pivotal role in scaling up manufacturing and supply chain capabilities, further increasing market penetration, and advancing partnerships to address PFAS contamination challenges on a global scale. 

“The industry is overwhelmingly demanding a solution to the PFAS problem, responding to existing and pending regulations. We are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic support from our investors and the confidence they have shown in our mission to combat the widespread issue of PFAS contamination,” said Julie Bliss Mullen, Founder and CEO of Aclarity. “The Series A funding is already enabling us to grow our team, build more PFAS destruction skids and bring them to more communities and industries, ultimately making a lasting positive impact on public health and the environment.”

Aclarity’s innovative approach to PFAS destruction has garnered attention and support from both investors and environmental advocates alike. The technology boasts several key advantages, including its cost-effectiveness, environmental safety, and efficiency in eliminating PFAS compounds, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional remediation methods.

“Aclarity has the potential to revolutionize the field of environmental remediation and solve one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. We are confident that they will deliver on this promise,” said Jiten Manglani, Aqualateral’s Chief Investment Officer. “The Aclarity team has the capacity and vision to deliver far-reaching transformative results to communities across the globe.”

As Aclarity continues to make strides in the fight against PFAS pollution, the company remains committed to its core mission of destroying PFAS to safeguard the environment and public health. The Series A funding will be instrumental in driving Aclarity’s growth and accelerating the deployment of its groundbreaking technology to communities and industries in need.

For more information about Aclarity and its PFAS destruction technology, please visit www.aclaritywater.com

About Aclarity Inc.

Aclarity is revolutionizing the elimination of persistent and hazardous “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, which accumulate in human and animal tissues and persist indefinitely in our environment. Aclarity’s Octa™ PFAS destruction systems employ innovative proprietary technology to disrupt the ongoing PFAS contamination cycle. The conventional approach for removing and disposing of PFAS has led to concentrated PFAS materials being reintroduced into the environment through methods like landfill disposal, incineration, and deep well disposal, recontaminating the air, soil, and water. PFAS compounds are inherently resilient due to their strong molecular bonds. Until now, the prevailing method of “remediating” PFAS has involved a perilous cycle of extraction and disposal, either by returning the extracted PFAS to landfills or by incinerating it and emitting toxic aerosols into the atmosphere. Aclarity’s technology employs electricity to sever the carbon and fluorine bonds that give PFAS compounds their durability, thus putting an end to the perpetual PFAS contamination cycle.

SOURCE Aclarity

The tech-focused fund, backed by investors from Pitango,Viola, IGP, SilverTech and more, is raising funds to ensure the continuity of promising Israeli startups

TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 2, 2023 — Iron Nation, a volunteer emergency impact fund ensuring the continuity of early-stage Israeli start-ups, today announced its launch. The fund collects no management fee or carried interest and is aiming to raise 20M USD to support post-seed VC-backed startups impacted by the recent attack by Hamas and the ensuing war. This initiative is backed by a team of exceptional volunteers from the venture community including Chemi Peres of Pitango Ventures, Charlie Federman of SilverTech Ventures, Danny Cohen of Viola Ventures, Moshe Lichtman of IGP Capital, Aaron Applbaum of MizMaa, and Calanit Valfer of the Elah Fund who joined the investment committee pro-bono.

The recent Israel-Hamas war and the subsequent callup of 15-20% of the tech workforce to reserves caused early-stage start-ups in Israel to face unprecedented challenges. Iron Nation’s mission is to ensure that highly promising Israeli tech startups with established venture backing, a critical part of the tech ecosystem, can continue to grow during and after this crisis.

Renowned New York-based venture capitalist Charlie Federman of Silvertech Ventures was among the first to join the Iron Nation investment committee. Supported by the Silverstein family, who rebuilt the World Trade Center that now is home to dozens of Israeli related tech companies through their accelerator and fund, Federman felt a particular calling to support Israeli startups in their time of need.

“In the wake of the 9/11 terror attack, we saw New York at its finest. Thousands stopped what they were doing and simply showed up to volunteer. Israel has just suffered its 9/11 and I am proud to join the ranks of those working to ensure that the Israeli tech industry bounces back to the booming center it was before October 7^th,” Federman said.

Eligible startups can apply via Iron Nation’s website. Applications will be processed and vetted within two weeks by the investment committee. Iron Nation will actively amplify its investment with a dedicated investment-matching program of the Israel Innovation Authority, as well as the startups’ existing investors.

“Young startups that were primed for an exciting journey are facing unprecedented challenges.  Young men and women have been forced to set aside their dreams as an act of duty to their country,” said Chemi Peres, Managing Partner of Pitango Ventures and Chairman of the Peres Centre for Peace and Innovation. “The investor community refuses to allow them to be another casualty of this war. Their widespread support speaks not only to the resilience of the tech ecosystem but to the belief that we can save a critical segment of the Israeli tech economy while creating a sustainable double-bottom line for investors.” 

“We chose to focus our efforts to support this particular segment of the startup ecosystem because of the enormous potential they have shown, and we are committed to ensuring that they have the resources to reach that potential. We collect no management fees and no carried interest and our volunteer-based approach allows us to maximize the support we provide,” said Gil Friedlander, Co-founder of Iron Nation. “We are overwhelmed thus far by the spirit of collaboration and the commitment to drive the Israeli tech ecosystem forward not only in Israel but also abroad. The tech economy is critical to our nation and we encourage more to join us through investment, donation, or contribution.”

How to Get Involved

Iron Nation invites individuals, donors, organizations, and investors to join this noble cause. Contributions can be made through the official website at https://www.ironnation.org/

About Iron Nation

Iron Nation is an emergency impact fund ensuring the continuity of early-stage Israeli start-ups in the wake of the October 7^th massacre. Iron Nation was co-founded by seasoned entrepreneurs Chen Linchevski,Gil Friedlander, and Jason Wolf and is a wholly volunteer-driven organization comprised of leading entrepreneurs and investors including Chemi Peres of Pitango, Charlie Federman of SilverTech Ventures, Danny Cohen of Viola Ventures, Aaron Applbaum of MizMaa, Calanit Valfer of the Elah Fund, Moshe Lichtman of IGP Capital, and others. The organization is also supported pro-bono by leading companies including Meitar, Start-Up Nation Central, InNegev, and others.

The Iron Nation fund utilizes general solicitation and is compliant with the requirements of US Securities Act Rule 506(c) and is open to US investors who qualify as “accredited investors”. 

Iron Nation is also a 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductible. 

For Press Inquiries:
David Hoffman
Headline Media
[email protected]
+972-52-842-1955

SOURCE Iron Nation

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2023 — ProJenX, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel, brain-penetrant therapies targeting biologically-defined pathways for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other debilitating brain diseases, today announced the initial closing of a $15 million Series A financing. Led by Medical Excellence Capital, which also led the company’s seed financing round and created ProJenX in collaboration with Project ALS and researchers at Columbia University, the Series A will fund the continued development of ProJenX’s lead compound, prosetin, for the treatment of ALS.

In addition, ProJenX announced the appointment of Rick Hartz to its board of directors. Rick is currently Senior Vice President, Global Pharma & Human Health Business Development at Merck & Co., Inc. Rick has more than 30 years of commercial, marketing, and business development leadership experience across multiple therapeutic areas. At Merck, he leads a global commercial team responsible for cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, infectious disease, hospital/specialty, immunology, and neuroscience. Previous positions at Merck include SVP for Global Oncology Partnerships, SVP US Managed Markets and Chief Marketing Officer, US Market. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dickinson College and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“We are focused on accelerating the development of prosetin to meet the critical need for new treatments for people living with ALS,” said Stan Abel, the company’s president and CEO. “We are encouraged by the therapeutic window emerging from our phase 1 trial and ongoing nonclinical studies and are looking forward to advancing prosetin to people living with ALS in early 2024. We are also thrilled to welcome Rick to our board and know that he will add tremendous value given his extensive global commercial and business development experience at Merck.”

“I am excited to join the ProJenX Board and contribute to its mission to advance promising therapies for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases,” added Mr. Hartz. “With an orphan drug designation, prosetin is poised to advance toward a global pivotal trial next year and I look forward to working with my fellow board members and the ProJenX team to help guide the growth of the company.”

Prosetin is a first-in-class, novel, selective, oral, brain-penetrant, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase (MAP4K) inhibitor. MAP4Ks were discovered as critical regulators of neuronal survival in a patient-specific, cell-based discovery platform developed by ProJenX co-founders at Columbia University, and prosetin was optimized for potency against MAP4Ks, efficacy in motor neuron rescue, and preferential distribution to the CNS. Prosetin is an investigational new drug and has not been approved by the FDA.

About ProJenX

ProJenX is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel, brain-penetrant, targeted therapies to address untreatable brain diseases, with an initial focus on ALS. ProJenX was created out of a long-term research collaboration between Project ALS and researchers at Columbia University to rapidly develop and commercialize its lead therapy candidate, prosetin, for people living with ALS. At the heart of ProJenX’s approach is an innovative, patient-specific, cell-based drug discovery platform that can be leveraged for research and drug development for ALS and other debilitating brain diseases. For more information, visit projenx.com.

Editor’s Note: Photograph of Rick Hartz available on request

SOURCE ProJenX

Life Sciences Pioneer Todd Dickinson, Ph.D., Appointed as CEO; Spatial Biology Innovator Ye Fu, PhD., Appointed as CTO

BOSTON, Nov. 2, 2023 — Stellaromics, a leading provider of in situ spatial multi-omics technology, today announced that the company has raised $25 million in a Series A financing round. The Series A financing round included Plaisance Capital Management and a private family office based in Silicon Valley. Founded in 2022, the company is developing next-generation spatial technology that promises to accelerate the development of fundamentally novel drug treatments, including for autoimmune diseases, cancer, neuropsychiatric disorders, and infectious diseases.

In tandem with the fundraise, Stellaromics has appointed Todd Dickinson, Ph.D., as President & CEO. Dickinson is a life sciences industry pioneer, with more than 20 years of experience developing and commercializing disruptive genomics technologies. He was an early scientist of Illumina, and held a variety of technical and commercial executive roles both at Illumina, Bionano Genomics, and most recently as CEO of Cantata Bio (formerly Dovetail Genomics and Arc Bio).

In addition, Ye Fu, Ph.D., has been appointed as CTO. Fu most recently served as Principal at Plaisance Capital Management, where he was a founding team member at several breakthrough biotech companies and a co-founder of Stellaromics. He is widely published, including first author articles in Cell and Nature Chemical Biology, with more than 18,000 citations. His PhD thesis opened the field of reversible RNA modifications, which is the foundational work for the 2023 Wolf Prize in Chemistry, one of the most prestigious international chemistry awards.

Founding Team Defining the Next Generation of Spatial Technology
Stellaromics Scientific Co-Founders are world-renowned scientists Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D., and Xiao Wang, Ph.D. Together, they patented the company’s proprietary technology, STARmap (Spatially-resolved Transcript Amplicon Readout mapping), capable of measuring expression levels of thousands of genes within intact tissue, at the sub-cellular, single molecule level. Most recently, Wang has developed a breakthrough RIBOmap (ribosome-bound mRNA mapping) technology to measure protein synthesis at single-cell and spatial resolution. Stellaromics technology is based on their ground-breaking research and innovations, as published in Science, Nature, and Cell.

“Stellaromics is on a mission to propel biomedical research forward by setting a new standard in in situ spatial analysis. Spatial biology has quickly established itself as one of the most exciting biological technologies of this decade. But today’s approaches remain constrained to two-dimensional tissue profiles, and limited largely to expression of a handful of genes at a single point in time.  Our goal is to enable scientists to capture ultra high-resolution, three-dimensional, multi-omic information from thick tissue samples, mapping not only gene expression patterns, but also revealing those genes that are being translated to proteins. By generating a far richer, functional readout of each cell in its native state across a broad range of different samples, from tumors to neurological disease samples, our technology will enable a new level of insight into the mechanisms of disease and how to treat them,” said CEO Dickinson. “With this round of funding, we are entering an exciting growth phase as we expand our team, invest in both innovation and product development, and begin commercialization of what we believe will be a transformative in situ 3D profiling technology.”

With a clear vision to simplify and automate the process of capturing high resolution 3D information inside in situ tissue, this latest round of financing will be used to fortify the business and establish a new company headquarters to house its growing team of innovators. The company will continue to focus on advancing the development of its revolutionary Plexa™ products; the alpha version is expected to be available via a Technology Access Program in early 2024.  

About Stellaromics

Stellaromics, founded in 2022 and based in Boston, is advancing biomedical research with patented technology that deciphers intricate 3D transcription and translation patterns in native biological tissue. Their flagship product, STARmap (Spatially-resolved Transcript Amplicon Readout mapping), reveals gene expression patterns within intact tissue, aiding in the identification of treatment targets and supporting biomedical research. Stellaromics is in late-stage product development on its Plexa™ suite of products, designed to enable researchers and clinicians to create detailed cellular maps for enhanced disease understanding. For more information, visit stellaromics.com.

Media inquiries:
stellaromics@oakstreetcommunications.com

SOURCE Stellaromics