Latest news with #SeriesC
TechCrunch
21 hours ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Cathy Gao's bringing the real playbook to TC All Stage
Growth-stage fundraising is picking up speed again, but it's not the same game it used to be. At TechCrunch All Stage 2025 on July 15 in Boston, we're bringing in someone who knows how the rules have changed and how to win in today's market: Cathy Gao, partner at Sapphire Ventures. Gao has backed breakout startups like Culture Amp, Gem, Sword Health, and EliseAI. She's sat on both sides of the table as an investor and operator. At Gusto, she helped scale post–Series B. Now, she's helping founders cut through the noise and land deals in an increasingly competitive environment. Don't miss Cathy's insights. Register before June 23 to save up to $210. This isn't theory. This is what's working now. In her session 'The New Rules of Growth-Stage Fundraising: How to Win at Raising a Series C & Beyond,' Gao will unpack how GenAI is driving a resurgence in later-stage funding — and why most founders still miss the mark. She'll break down what top-tier investors are really looking for in today's deals, how to sharpen your pitch, and where to focus if you're raising in the $30M+ range. If you're scaling a breakout AI company or just trying to stay relevant in this high-stakes landscape, this is the tactical session you don't want to miss. TC All Stage is one day. But what you learn will power your scaling. TechCrunch All Stage 2025 kicks off July 15 at Boston's SoWa Power Station, powered by Fidelity Private Shares. It's a full day of founder how-to, hard-won lessons, and high-impact conversations with the people actually writing the checks at every stage of scaling. Bring your cofounder. Your head of finance. Your future term sheet. Just don't miss Cathy. Register now to save up to $210 before the June 22 deadline at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vivani Medical Appoints Anthony Baldor as Chief Financial Officer
ALAMEDA, Calif., June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vivani Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: VANI) ('Vivani' or the 'Company'), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing miniature, ultra long-acting drug implants, today announced the appointment of Anthony Baldor as Chief Financial Officer. Baldor succeeds Brigid A. Makes, who has decided to retire from Vivani to focus on her board appointments and personal projects after a distinguished career and significant contributions to the Company. Baldor brings more than 20 years of financial management experience in the biotechnology sector, with a proven record in fundraising, business development and corporate strategy. Prior to joining Vivani, Baldor was Chief Financial Officer at Diakonos Oncology Corp., where he led the company's Series Seed and Series A financings, and Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Development at 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Inc., where he played a pivotal role in the company's Series C financing, initial public offering and various key partnership activities. His experience also includes positions at Jefferies Group LLC, BioInnovation Capital, LLC, RMI Partners, and Cequent Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Baldor holds both an M.B.A. and a Master of Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. from Vassar College. 'Anthony's deep expertise in financial strategy will be instrumental as Vivani advances its pipeline and scales its operations,' said Vivani Chief Executive Officer Adam Mendelsohn, PhD. 'We are excited to welcome him to the leadership team at this pivotal time for the Company.' Dr. Mendelsohn continued: 'On behalf of the Board and the entire Vivani team, I thank Brigid for her outstanding leadership and dedication. Her expertise and vision have been invaluable to our growth and success. This includes helping guide our company through a transformative period, including the successful completion of the merger of Nano Precision Medical and Second Sight Medical Products, and the advancement of our clinical and commercial strategy.' Makes will continue to serve in an advisory capacity during the transition. About Vivani Medical, Inc. Leveraging its proprietary NanoPortal™ platform, Vivani develops biopharmaceutical implants designed to deliver drug molecules steadily over extended periods of time with the goal of guaranteeing adherence, and potentially to improve patient tolerance to their medication. Vivani's lead program, NPM-115, is a six-month, subdermal, GLP-1 (exenatide) implant under development for chronic weight management in obese or overweight patients. Vivani's emerging pipeline includes NPM-139 (semaglutide implant), which is also under development for chronic weight management. The semaglutide implant has the added potential benefit of once-yearly administration. NPM-119 refers to the Company's six-month, subdermal, GLP-1 (exenatide) implant under development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. These NanoPortal implants are designed to provide patients with the opportunity to realize the full potential benefit of their medication by avoiding the challenges associated with the daily or weekly administration of oral and injectable medications. Medication non-adherence occurs when patients do not take their medication as prescribed. This affects an alarming number of patients, approximately 50%, including those taking daily pills. Medication non-adherence, which contributes to more than $500 billion in annual avoidable healthcare costs and 125,000 potentially preventable deaths annually in the U.S. alone, is a primary and daunting reason obese or overweight patients, and patients taking type 2 diabetes or other chronic disease treatments, face significant challenges in achieving positive real-world effectiveness. While the current GLP-1 landscape includes over 50 new molecular entities under clinical stage development, Vivani is confident that its highly differentiated portfolio of miniature, ultra long-acting GLP-1 implants have the potential to provide an attractive therapeutic option for patients, prescribers and payers. For more information, please visit: Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the 'safe harbor' provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: 'target,' 'believe,' 'expect,' 'will,' 'may,' 'anticipate,' 'estimate,' 'would,' 'planned,' 'positioned,' 'potential,' 'future,' 'allow,' 'intended' and other similar expressions that are in this press release, including statements regarding Vivani's business, products in development, including the therapeutic potential thereof, the planned development therefor, the completion of the LIBERATE-1™ trial and reporting of trial results, Vivani's development plans for Vivani's products, including NPM-115, NPM-139, NPM-119, and Vivani's plans with respect to Cortigent, Inc. ('Cortigent'), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and its proposed spin-off, technology, strategy, cash position and financial runway. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on Vivani's current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements, including, without limitation, risks that the spin-off will not be completed in a timely manner or at all; risks of failure to satisfy any conditions to the spin-off; risks of failure of the spin-off to qualify for non-recognition of gain or loss for U.S. Federal Income Tax purposes, and approval with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') and Nasdaq; uncertainty of whether the anticipated benefits of the spin-off can be achieved; risks of unexpected costs or delays; and risks and uncertainties associated with the development and commercialization of products and product candidates that may impact or alter anticipated business plans, strategies and objectives. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to additional inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of Vivani's control. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, risks related to the development and commercialization of Vivani's products, including NPM-115, NPM-139, and NPM-119; delays and changes in the development of Vivani's products, including as a result of applicable laws, regulations and guidelines, potential delays in submitting and receiving regulatory clearance or approval to conduct Vivani's development activities; risks related to the initiation, enrollment and conduct of Vivani's planned clinical trials and the results therefrom; Vivani's history of losses and Vivani's ability to access additional capital or otherwise fund Vivani's business; market conditions and the ability of Cortigent to complete its spin-off, Cortigent's history of losses and its ability to access additional capital or otherwise fund Cortigent's business and advance its product candidates and pre-clinical programs. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations in any forward-looking statement. There may be additional risks that the Company and Cortigent consider immaterial, or which are unknown. A further list and description of risks and uncertainties can be found in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 31, 2025, as updated by the Company's subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in other reports that the Company has filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements made by Vivani or Cortigent in this press release are based only on information currently available to the Company and Cortigent and assumptions that Vivani and Cortigent believe to be reasonable. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Neither the Company nor Cortigent undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time-to-time, whether as a result of added information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law. Company Contact:Donald DwyerChief Business Officerinfo@ 506-8462 Investor Relations Contact:Jami TaylorInvestor Relations Advisorinvestors@ 506-8462 Media Contact:Sean LeousICR 866-4012Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI Means There's More Room for Junior Lawyers, Not Less, Says Luminance CEO Lightbody
Junior lawyers needn't worry - the rise of AI means there's more space for them, not less, says Eleanor Lightbody, CEO of tech startup Luminance. "Those people coming out of university now and getting into law, they understand AI is at the heart of it," she added. The legal AI startup has raised $75 million Series C funding this year. Lightbody joined Bloomberg's Tom Mackenzie on "Daybreak: Europe" on June 10. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HepaRegeniX Doses First Patient in Phase Ib Trial with Small Molecule Inhibitor HRX-215 to Promote Liver Regeneration
Tuebingen, Germany, June 10, 2025 – HepaRegeniX GmbH ('HepaRegeniX'), a clinical-stage company advancing novel therapies to treat acute and chronic liver disease, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in their Phase Ib clinical trial of its lead candidate HRX-215. The trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of HRX-215, an orally available small-molecule inhibitor of MKK4, in patients undergoing partial liver resection due to liver metastases deriving from colorectal cancer. HXR-215 is designed to treat advanced-stage liver disease by increasing the regenerative capacity of hepatocytes. An initial data readout is planned for the second half of 2025. 'We aim to address a critical unmet need in patients with advanced liver disease who are often considered inoperable due to the limited regenerative capacity of the remaining liver after partial resection,' said Linda Greenbaum, Chief Medical Officer at HepaRegeniX. 'HRX-215 may offer a new therapeutic option by promoting hepatocyte regeneration, thereby increasing the safety and feasibility of liver resections in patients who have insufficient predicted postoperative liver mass and/or reduced liver function associated with fatty liver (steatosis) or liver scarring (fibrosis).' 'Dosing the first patient in this trial marks an important milestone for HepaRegeniX as we advance HRX-215 into the next stage of clinical development,' said Elias Papatheodorou, Chief Executive Officer at HepaRegeniX. 'Together with our recently completed €21.5 million Series C financing round, we are well-positioned to advance HRX-215 through clinical development and ultimately improve outcomes for patients facing limited treatment options.' The randomized, double-blinded Phase Ib/IIa trial (NCT06638502), conducted in the United States, will evaluate the safety and efficacy of HRX-215 in 85 patients with liver metastases originating from colorectal cancer. Participants will be divided into three cohorts: (1) active treatment arm for patients requiring minor liver resection ( 30%), (2) active treatment arm including patients requiring major liver resection (50 – 72%), and (3) active treatment and a placebo comparator arms for patients requiring major liver resection. The study builds on preclinical and clinical data published in Cell in March 2024, which demonstrated the potential of HRX-215 to significantly boost liver regeneration and prevent post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) in animal models and which demonstrated acceptable safety profile and pharmacokinetics in a Phase I trial in healthy participants. The compound showed favorable safety and tolerability, with no drug-related adverse events observed. About HRX-215 and Liver RegenerationPatients with late-stage liver disease often have limited therapeutic options beyond surgical intervention. Successful liver resection depends on the ability of the remaining liver, known as the future liver remnant (FLR), to sustain essential functions and regenerate. When the FLR is insufficient in volume or function, the risk of post-operative liver failure increases significantly, rendering many patients ineligible for potentially curative surgery. HRX-215 is an orally available small molecule inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 4 (MKK4), a key regulator of liver regeneration. By selectively inhibiting MKK4, HRX-215 has been shown in preclinical models to stabilize and protect hepatocytes, while accelerating and enhancing regenerative processes, even in compromised or diseased livers. This therapeutic approach has the potential to expand surgical eligibility to patients requiring extended liver resection who would otherwise be deemed inoperable, offering a new path to potentially lifesaving treatment. About HepaRegeniX GmbHHepaRegeniX is advancing therapies to treat acute and chronic liver diseases based on the groundbreaking discoveries of a novel cellular target and small molecules that enable the liver to regenerate rapidly. We do so by harnessing the liver's inherent regenerative power not only in healthy but also in diseased livers. The company's lead candidate, HRX-215, an orally available small molecule currently in a Phase Ib/IIa trial, selectively inhibits Mitogen-Activated Protein (MAP) Kinase Kinase 4 (MKK4), a master regulator of liver regeneration. Building on demonstrated safety in clinical trials, HepaRegeniX is progressing HRX-215 to prevent post-hepatectomy liver failure, facilitate transplantation of smaller living donor liver grafts, and treat severe alcohol-associated hepatitis. Beyond liver diseases, the company is also developing HRX-233 to target kinase inhibitor treatment resistance in KRAS-driven tumors. HepaRegeniX is backed by experienced life science investors, including Vesalius Biocapital IV, Novo Holdings A/S, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Coparion, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Ascenion GmbH and Wellington Partners. Visit our website at to learn more about the company. For further information, please contact:HepaRegeniX GmbHElias PapatheodorouChief Executive Officerinfo@ Media InquiriesTrophic CommunicationsCharlotte Spitz or Gretchen Schweitzer Tel: +49 171 351 2733Email: heparegenix@
Business Insider
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Insider
Uber is teaming up with a Microsoft-backed startup to launch robotaxis on the chaotic roads of London
London's famous black cabs could be about to get some robotaxi competition. Uber and Wayve, a British AI startup backed by Microsoft and Nvidia, announced on Tuesday that they will trial fully driverless autonomous vehicles in London, as the ride-hailing giant steps up its robotaxi ambitions. The driverless ride-hailing service in the UK capital will see Uber deploy vehicles running Wayve's AI-powered self-driving tech in a pilot program. "If you prove this technology works here, you can literally drive anywhere. It's one of the hardest proving grounds," Wayve CEO Alex Kendall told Business Insider during a test drive ahead of the launch. The news comes after the UK government announced it would fast-track approval for pilots of self-driving taxis from 2027 to spring 2026. Wayve and Uber declined to say when the initial deployment will begin, or which global carmaker would provide the vehicles for the robotaxi service. After largely abandoning plans to build its own self-driving cars, Uber has shifted strategy and struck a spree of deals to add robotaxis operated by self-driving companies to its app. The company has a partnership with Google-backed Waymo to operate its autonomous taxis on the Uber platform in Austin and Phoenix, and has signed similar deals with Chinese robotaxi startups WeRide and Uber inked its deal with Wayve last year, agreeing to deploy self-driving vehicles powered by the British startup's technology on its platform in multiple markets around the world. Uber also invested in Wayve through an extension of the company's Series C fundraising round, which raised $1.05 billion from investors including Softbank, Nvidia, and Microsoft. The London-based startup, which has been testing its fleet of autonomous Ford Mach-Es with a safety driver in London for several years, has quickly become one of the buzziest names in the robotaxi industry. Wayve says its "AI driver" runs on an end-to-end AI model — an approach also adopted by Tesla — allowing it to react to the physical world in the same way a human would and drive anywhere, unlike rivals like Waymo, which rely on high-definition maps to operate their robotaxis. Speaking to Business Insider from the back of a Wayve self-driving car in central London, Wayve CEO Kendall said the company had tested its autonomous vehicles in 90 cities over the past 90 days. "It's a real demonstration of how well this technology generalizes. The diversity we saw on these roads is immense, from winding roads in the Swiss Alps and dirt tracks in Italy to diverse cities like Vancouver and Tokyo," said Kendall. He said the vehicles in the robotaxi service in London will initially use a mixed suite of sensors, including cameras, radar, and lidar (laser-based sensors), adding that the chaotic nature of London's roads made it the perfect place to trial Wayve's technology without a safety driver. During BI's test ride, Wayve's AI driver navigated a number of obstacles, such as roadworks in London's busy Kings Cross district. "The ambition is to be driving in every city Uber operates in with our robotaxis. And I think only through end-to-end machine learning can you reach that level of scale," he added.
