Good day. Biotechnology companies have developed a series of vaccines and drugs against Covid-19, but venture firm Omega Funds is betting that patients could still use additional options. 

Venture-backed biotechnology companies have had a hand in this effort. Last year, for example, antibody drugmaker Adagio Therapeutics Inc. and Pardes Biosciences Inc., a developer of an antiviral pill for the disease, went public after raising venture capital.

But the need for options to combat the virus, and its variants, is great enough to support multiple companies, said Omega Funds founder and Managing Director Otello Stampacchia.

The firm has founded and provided initial funding to Aerium Therapeutics, which is developing a two-antibody treatment, initially for people who are especially vulnerable to Covid-19. These include patients with diseases such as cancer and the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Dr. Stampacchia said. 

Aerium, based in Boston and Switzerland, has raised Series A funding from Omega Funds and F-Prime Capital. The company, led by Rajeev Venkayya, former president of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.’s global vaccines business unit, expects to begin its initial clinical trials this summer, Dr. Stampacchia said.

And now on to the news...

Metaverse bet. Qualcomm Inc., best known as a supplier of chips for smartphones, is setting aside $100 million to invest in companies that develop new technologies for the metaverse, a virtual world where people can interact, work and shop, The Wall Street Journal’s Kristin Broughton reports.

• Qualcomm said Monday it will provide the funding to businesses and developers in the form of equity investments and grants. The company will begin accepting applications for the fund in June.
   
• Qualcomm has used its balance sheet to make venture investments for more than two decades and currently has about $2 billion in assets under management in its venture portfolio.
   
• With the fund, Qualcomm wants to further develop the metaverse and expand the market for the company’s chips, said Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala.

Ad-tech company TripleLift Inc. said it is acquiring 1plusX AG, a business that helps publishers and advertisers reach audiences using first-party data, for roughly $150 million, WSJ reports. The deal comes as the marketing industry is developing new strategies to efficiently reach consumers amid numerous privacy changes, including a plan by Alphabet Inc.’s Google to block third-party cookies in its Chrome browser next year.

Rockets of Awesome, a children’s apparel startup, is running low on funding and exploring a sale of the company, according to emails and people familiar with the matter, WSJ reports. The New York City-based company, which laid off about half of its staff and closed its only store in 2020, halted payments to its vendors in February, according to the people familiar and emails viewed by The Wall Street Journal. A spokeswoman for Rockets of Awesome declined to comment.

Funds

MFV Partners, whose focus is digitization of the automotive, manufacturing, retail, agriculture and knowledge services sectors, is raising $75 million for its second fund, according to a regulatory filing.

ONE9 Venture Partners is raising a fund targeted at 50 million Canadian dollars (about $40 million) focused on national security and critical infrastructure. Special Mission Fund I launched with a C$10 million anchor commitment from Kensington Capital Partners.

Omnipresent, a London-based provider of remote workforce technology, scored $120 million in Series B funding. Kinnevik and Tencent led the round, which included participation from Uncorrelated Ventures.

CommerceIQ, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based retail e-commerce-management platform, closed a $115 million Series D round, bringing the company’s valuation to more than $1 billion. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the funding, which saw participation from existing investors Insight Partners, Trinity Ventures, Shasta Ventures and Madrona Venture Group. Priya Saiprasad, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will join the company’s board.

Finally, which helps small businesses automate their accounting and finance operations, landed a $95 million round of Series A equity and debt. PeakSpan Capital led the equity portion, with additional support from Active Capital, 500 FinTech and GTMfund. Clear Haven Capital provided the debt. Founded in 2018, Finally has offices in Miami and San Francisco and was formerly known as Back Office.

ME+EM, a London-based direct-to-consumer luxury women’s fashion brand, secured a £55 million (about $72 million) investment led by Highland Europe. 

Bionic, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based application security posture-management platform, closed a $65 million Series B round. Insight Partners led the investment, which included contributions from Cyberstarts and Battery Ventures.

Glia, a provider of digital customer service technology based in New York and Estonia, picked up a $45 million Series D investment, giving the company a valuation of more than $1 billion. Led by Insight Partners, the round included participation from Wildcat Capital Management and RingCentral Inc.

Spot & Tango, a New York-based maker of nutritious and sustainable dog food, raised $38.5 million in Series B funding and $13.2 million in Series A financing led by Valor Equity Partners.

Cascade, strategy execution platform with offices in Sydney, Seoul and Portland, Ore., completed a $29 million Series A round. Lead investor Telescope Partners joined Five V Capital and Carthona Capital in the funding.

Antidote Health, a New York-based telehealth provider, closed a $22 million Series A round led by iAngels, Group 11 and Flint Capital.

ForAllSecure, a Pittsburgh-based application security testing technology provider, grabbed $21 million in Series B financing co-led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and New Enterprise Associates.

Plotlogic, an Australian mining technology startup, snagged $18 million in Series A funding. Lead investor Innovation Endeavors was joined by BHP Ventures, Touchdown Ventures, DCVC, Baidu Ventures and Grids Capital in the round.

Ursa Space Systems Inc., a satellite intelligence infrastructure company, nabbed $16 million in Series C funding. Dorilton Ventures led the round, which included support from Razor's Edge Ventures, RRE Ventures, Paladin Capital Group and others.

• China’s big tech firms are axing thousands of workers
   
• Foxconn running at full capacity in Shenzhen after Covid-19 restrictions lifted
   
• Nielsen rejects roughly $9 billion takeover offer from private-equity consortium
   
• Thoma Bravo to buy Anaplan for $10.7 billion
   
• More U.S. companies wade into NFTs despite lack of accounting rules
   
• What if working in sweatpants unleashed your superpowers?

• Toronto, the quietly booming tech town (New York Times)
   
• Why Bill Gates’ climate VC firm is focused on the tech we don’t have (Protocol)

This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley and Marc Vartabedian.

Follow us on Twitter: @wsjvc, @ychernova, @BrianPGormley, @marcvarta.