Baltimore Money Moves: Biotech wins big (again)

Big biotech raises and grants

• GlycoMantra, a University of Maryland, Baltimore startup, received a $3.7 million SBIR Phase II grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The funding aims to advance the development of therapeutics for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, liver fibrosis and type 2 diabetes.
• Irazu Oncology, a biotech company using a platform developed by University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) researchers for cancer vaccine development, has reportedly secured $2.6 million in debt from an undisclosed source, as reported by citybiz+. Claire D. Murphy, director of strategic marketing for UMB’s Office of Research and Development, told Technical.ly that the company raised $1.8 million in a preliminarily closed seed round as of Dec. 14.
• Elixirgen Therapeutics, a biotech firm dedicated to developing therapies for genetic diseases and vaccines, has raised nearly $7 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The company did not immediately confirm its plans for the raise.

Cambium Carbon’s major seed+

As teased in a previous Money Moves column, supply chain company Cambium Carbon confirmed a $5.3 million seed+ round in a recent announcement. Although the company’s website lists a DC address, an SEC filing mentions a company address in the Baltimore County municipality of Arbutus.

“We’re thrilled to channel this investment towards revolutionizing material supply chains,” said Cambium cofounder and CEO Ben Christensen in the release. “This funding is a testament to our vision and enables us to scale up our production of carbon-negative wood, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional lumber.”

According to the release, MaC Venture Capital led the round. Prior investors Blue Pool Capital, Rise of the Rest and Alumni Ventures joined new investors like Connecticut Innovations, Gaingels and more. The funding anticipates a planned rebrand, a “revamped” website and the debut of the Traece app.

Manufacturing wins

• The Baltimore Business Journal (BBJ) reported that local startup Matium secured $1.78 million to develop a platform dubbed the “Tinder for materials.” The funding will support the creation of this software, which is designed to connect various plastics companies while streamlining the process of buying and selling materials.
• Jbrds, a Baltimore County company that makes shoes for kids, will soon have its footwear in Charm City Run and Pacers stores. The deals are the first retail partnerships for the company, which started selling its shoes online in August 2022, and will bring Jbrds to much of the mid-Atlantic. Baltimore-based Charm City Run has eight stores in Maryland and Delaware, while Pacers has five in Northern Virginia and DC. The company is also in talks to sell its shoes internationally. The deals come as Jbrds recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $1 million.

TREND’s acquisition

Another Hunt Valley-based company, the healthcare credit balance management and payment accuracy solutions provider TREND Health Partners, has announced its acquisition of Advent Health Partners. This deal is aimed at positioning the medtech company as a “leading” AI-driven platform for payment accuracy and revenue integrity in the healthcare industry, according to an announcement. The acquisition is supported by an undisclosed investment from Lone View Capital.

TEDCO investments

The State of Maryland-affiliated funder of early-stage companies announced the following investments in Baltimore-area companies over the last month:

• A $225,000 investment in Clymb, a woman- and minority-led startup supporting young people’s mental and emotional health needs. This recent investment came through TEDCO’s Social Impact Funds, unlike another earlier this year from the agency’s State Small Business Credit Initiative funding.
• A $500,000 Social Impact Funds investment in NasaClip. The Technical.ly Awards nominee is a woman- and minority-led business developing a hands-free device that aims to offer a more efficient and cost-effective solution for nosebleeds.
• A $250,000 investment in financial literacy tech developer EQL Finance through its Seed Funds program. TEDCO’s Seed Funds focuses on early-stage technology and life sciences companies. This particular investment was made through TEDCO’s Technology Commercialization Fund.

Other Baltimore-area money moves

• The BBJ reported that Medifast invested $20 million in virtual healthcare provider LifeMD. The partnership integrates Medifast’s coaching with LifeMD’s platform, allowing doctors to prescribe weight loss drugs to Medifast customers and address a revenue slowdown.
• In the Greater Baltimore area, the CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio for the largest public companies has, on average, increased by 61.88% over the last six years. The BBJ examined the top 10 companies in the region and found a varied trend; some CEOs experienced a more-than-twofold increase in pay ratios while others have seen significant decreases.
• Baltimore-based venture capital firm and accelerator organizer W Ventures announced an addition to its portfolio: Gallop Growth. Gallop Growth offers “creditworthy” Shopify and Amazon store owners an “instantaneous” line of credit approval worth up to $200,000, according to an emailed announcement. The limit can be further increased for qualified sellers.
• After an investment from TEDCO earlier this year, biotech company pathOtrak has raised approximately $2.9 million in a new equity funding round, according to a Dec. 5 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. Although the company’s website lists it in College Park, the SEC filing notes an address in Laurel.
• According to another SEC filing, Columbia-based Terrapin Parent Holdings raised approximately $11.6 million. While the exact purpose of the raise could not be accounted for, the filing listed Wesley Daniels and Michael Kukuselis, copartners of Columbia-HQed national security tech company Clarity Innovations, as directors and executives. The filing also listed several leaders of DC-based private equity firm Capitol Meridian Partners as directors; the filing was posted less than two weeks after the Washington Business Journal reported Capitol Meridian Partners’ undisclosed investment in Clarity.
• The BBJ reported that Harbor Point-based energy company Constellation plans to buy back $1 billion of its own stocks.

NextGen layoffs

Healthcare IT company NextGen Healthcare, which has offices in Hunt Valley, plans to lay off a total of 99 employees. According to the Maryland Department of Labor’s Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log, these layoffs will take effect on Jan. 6.