Money Moves: ArriVent Biopharma raised another megaround

In an announcement Monday, the company said it closed an oversubscribed $155 million Series B round of financing. The company has raised $300 million to date, and quickly, during a time when megarounds — aka raises over $100 million — are harder to come by.

The funding will go toward Phase 3 studies with its lead product, furmonertinib, a drug that targets locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. It will also support other trials, and the expansion of the company’s drug pipeline.

The round was led by Sofinnova Investments and General Catalyst, with participation from new investors including Catalio Capital Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Shanghai Healthcare Capital, Sequoia China, AIHC Capital, Terra Magnum Capital Partners, Unicorn Capital Partners Limited, and Infinitum Asset Management. The company’s existing investors, Lilly Asia Ventures, OrbiMed, Octagon Capital Advisors, Sirona Capital and Boyu/Zoo Capital, also participated in the round.

“With this Series B financing, we have now raised more than $300 million to date, resulting in a strong financial position to further advance and broaden our global development plans for furmonertinib, as well as support our growing pipeline of best and first-in-class oncology therapeutics,” cofounder and CEO Bing Yao said in a statement.

Kidas investment and partnership

2019-founded AI startup Kidas, maker of a video game monitoring system that alerts parents when a child comes in contact with bullying or predatory behavior, has entered into a partnership with cybersecurity company Aura, which includes an Aura Innovation Fund investment. A spokesperson for the companies said they are not sharing the amount of the investment.

As part of the deal, Kidas’ ProtectMe software, which monitors text and voice communication to alert parents of potential threats, will be available to Aura customers.

“Scammers, predators and financial defrauders are targeting kids now more than ever, and by partnering with Aura, we can better protect families from these potential dangers,” Kidas CEO Ron Kerbs said in a statement. Aura’s investment will help us expand to new games and platforms, further improve our algorithms, grow our team and reach more parents, ultimately creating a safer and more enjoyable digital world for everyone.”

Kidas previously raised a $2 million pre-seed round in 2021.

Science Center closes its legacy fund …

University City Science Center is closing its first $5 million fund, Phase 1 Ventures, created nearly a decade ago to develop and commercialize emerging technologies. The fund deployed capital to 43 companies including Spirovant, Kiira Health, Thermaquil, Neuralert and Avkin. Its investments ranged from $20,000 to $450,000.

Its most recent investments are in Acclinate, a Birmingham-based company working to connect pharmaceutical companies and communities of color, and Prana Thoracic, a Houston-based company developing a diagnostic to support the early detection and intervention of lung cancer. A third Philadelphia-based company also received funding, but is still operating in stealth mode.

“It’s our belief that more capital needs to be directed towards the entrepreneurs and innovators who represent communities that have the most to gain from expanding the horizons of healthcare,” Science Center CEO Tiffany Wilson said in a statement. “The fundamentals of each of these companies are solid and it’s our goal to ensure they have an opportunity to test and validate their work on a bigger stage — within the healthcare organizations and populations they are looking to help.”

… and launches a health-focused fund

The Science Center began raising Fund 2 in 2021, this one established as the Science Center Health Fund. The $25 million fund will invest in healthcare and life science solutions with a focus on addressing inequities in underserved populations. This fund will be making investments of $500,000 to $750,000 in $1 million to $5 million rounds.

“P1V was really a proof of concept for us, as we took on the responsibility of identifying, vetting, and financially supporting companies close to our mission and on track to improve healthcare,” said Heath Naquin, Science Center VP of government and capital engagement, in a statement. Naquin was hired in 2021 specifically to oversee the launch of an investments arm focused on health equity startups.

“We want to make a clear signal to the market that our investments can advance healthcare innovation and improve lives,” he said.

Tribaja’s Google funding

Diversity-focused tech hiring network Tribaja is the recipient of funding from the 2023 TEC Impact Fund from Tech Equity Collective, an initiative by Google to accelerate Black innovation in the tech industry. The $1 million fund is investing between $30,000 and $75,000 in grants and rewards for career development programs for Black tech professionals.

Tribaja and 15 other organizations focused on diversifying the tech industry received awards in this round. Tribaja received $65,000, founder Shannon Morales told Technical.ly. She said they’ll be using the funds to curate an experience at this year’s Diversitech conference, and to launch the org’s second “Path to Power” bootcamp for women in tech.

“Our goal is to make tech accessible for all through our curated event experiences and upskilling bootcamps in partnership with inclusive brands,” Morales said.

Go’s $6 million

Ardmore-based subscription car platform Go has raised $6 million, Citybiz reported this week, for $52.8 million raised overall. This new funding came from lead investor Starting Line VC. Digital Horizon also participated in the round.

Founder Michael Beauchamp did not immediately reply to Technical.ly’s request for comment.

The startup, founded in 2020, functions as an alternative to car ownership where users instead pay a monthly subscription fee for a vehicle. When it raised $41 million in 2021, it took on a mix of debt and equity.

“Our model was very specific in that we had to raise equity for operations and debt equity to purchase the vehicles,” Beauchamp told Technical.ly in 2022.

The company operates in eight markets — Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Northern New Jersey and Orlando — and is looking to expand geographically. It counted 6,000 people on a waitlist late last year.

“We can’t get cars fast enough. Is that a problem? Sure. But there are worse problems to have,” said Beauchamp said in a November release.

Philly’s USDOT SMART grant

Last week, the City of Philadelphia announced it had received $2 million in federal grant funding for a street space-related project.

The funding comes from the US Department of Transportation’s Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program, and will dedicated to the Philadelphia Digital Right-of-Way and Mobility (ROW) Improvement Project. This project will support digitizing street, sidewalk and curbside space within the project area, and developing an online application to communicate right-of-way information to right of way users.

This project aims to address scarcity in right-of-way space in the city and scarcity of information about ROW users. It will build upon other SmartCityPHL projects, like the Smart Loading Zones pilot project launched in fall 2022, which focuses on safe and efficient curb space solutions for delivery drivers. Lessons from both project will go toward using data to improve curb usage on a national scale.

“The Streets Department is excited to be a recipient of the USDOT SMART Grant,” Philadelphia Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the City’s Office of Innovation and Technology and Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability on implementing new strategies and technology to improve the City’s Right-of-Way systems.”