September 6, 2019
Editor’s Note
We are looking forward to seeing many of you next week at our inaugural Women's Leadership Unbound Summit. Among those who will be speaking at the event will be: Cheryl Alston, Sonya Brown, Daphne Dufresne, Pam Hendrickson, Hollie Haynes, Wende Hutton, Rebecca Lynn, Kelly Meldrum, Jennifer Mulloy, Sonja Hoel Perkins, Nancy Pfund, and Alyssa Rieder. And in fact in this week’s Women’s PE Briefs you’ll read about new investments involving Hollie and Nancy. You’ll also read about personnel news at Align Capital Partners, Bain Capital, General Atlantic, HGGC, LBC Credit, NorthEdge Capital and Triton Pacific as well as new deals done by The Engine’s Ann DeWitt, Disruption Ventures’ Elaine Kunda, Madrona Venture Group’s Hope Cochran, NGP Capital’s Rohini Chakravarthy, Hone Capital’s Veronica Wu and Archangels’ Sarah Hardy, as well as a sale involving The Riverside Company’s Suzy Kriscunas and Fei Ren. You’ll also read about a company — co-founded by a woman — being sold for nearly $1 billion.
- David Barry
Video Voices
Kelly Meldrum, a Partner and Head of Primary Investments at Adams Street Partners, discusses the increase she is seeing in sponsor-to-sponsor deals, which she says have largely performed well over the past decade and are a “viable means of exit.” She also discusses the range of client solutions that have emerged as a result of a maturing private equity industry and provides insights on how today’s geopolitical climate will impact long-term investing.
In the Spotlight...
Avestria, which was created last year by Linda Greub and Corinne Nevinny to seed women’s health and life science companies, holds a first close on its debut fund and makes its first investment, backing a company that Linda tells Women’s PE Briefs is focused on providing improved guidance as to whether an emergency caesarean delivery is needed. Avestria took part in Raydiant’s $5.4-million Series A round, which also included: VCapital; MD Angels; Angel MD; Band of Angels; Mass Med Angels; Founder’s Equity Fund; and Rhia Ventures, whose CEO is Lisa Hammann and whose investment team includes partners Elizabeth Bailey and Stasia Obremskey.
Rhia is a social impact investment firm focused on connecting capital with entrepreneurs to accelerate innovative solutions in reproductive health. It was, in fact, at Rhia’s Reproductive Health Venture Fair in February that Avestria first learned about Raydiant. The startup currently resides at the Mountain View, Calif.-based Fogarty Institute of Innovation, which helps launch early-stage medical device companies. Raydiant was founded by Dr. Neil Ray, a pediatric anesthesiologist, and is working to improve the detection of prenatal hypoxia, or low oxygen level, during labor.
Today, said Linda, obstetricians rely on fetal heart rate monitoring to determine if a fetus is in distress. Unfortunately, she said, FHR monitoring missed approximately 50 percent of distressed fetuses. Raydiant’s monitoring system is placed on the mother’s abdomen and uses light-based technology to perform a color analysis of the fetus’ blood. If the result is red, then there is oxygen in the blood. If its’s blue, it means the blood does not have oxygen. Linda said that Avestria’s hope for Raydiant is that its system “will be used to monitor the oxygen of the fetus during every hospital-based birth in the United States, enabling physicians to better determine when an emergency C-section is, or is not, indicated.”
In conjunction with the financing, Terri Burke, a former executive with Edwards Lifesciences and a venture partner with Epidarex Capital, joined Raydiant’s board. Epidarex, whose team includes managing partner Kyparissia Sirinakis and partner Elizabeth Roper, is not an investor in Raydiant.
Linda and Corinne, who each have extensive backgrounds in the life science industries, founded LMN Ventures in 2010, with fellow Harvard Business School classmate Margot Sherr Shapiro. Focused on backing clean, green, health, wellness, fitness and education-oriented businesses that improve the quality of life, LMN has backed such companies as: nVision Medical Corp., which was founded by Surbhi Sarna and was acquired by Boston Scientific for what could eventually be $275 million; KeVita, a maker of probiotic drinks that was co-founded by Chakra Earthsong Levy and was acquired by PepsiCo.; and Baby League, a YouTube video content network created for parents, children and families.
Last year, wanting to focus on health care, Linda and Corinne founded Avestria. Linda confirmed that the firm has had a first close on its fund, but declined to disclose the amount or the fund’s target. Raydiant is the first new deal done by Avestria, but the fund does have four companies in it that Linda and Corinne previously backed. Those companies are: Alydia, the developer of a device to stop postpartum hemorrhaging; Madorra, the developer of a device to treat vaginal dryness in breast cancer patients; Uqora, the manufacturer of a supplement to prevent urinary tract infections; and Dahlia Biosciences, the exclusive licensee to CRISPR-Cas9 for use as a molecular research probe. Avestria’s team also includes Dr. Tracy Dooley, who is a venture partner.
Next Acts: Women on the Move
Align Capital Partners adds Hannah Dickey and Ashley Perry to its team. Read more…
Kate Ahern leaves her role as director of ESG and communications at Bain Capital. Read more…
After more than 17 years with General Atlantic, Sara Dillon has left her role as chief research officer, vice president - global research. Read more…
HGGC promotes Anna Ike and adds Genevieve Crawford to its investment team. Read more…
LBC Credit Partners brings aboard Subhadra Shrivastava. Read more…
NorthEdge Capital adds Lucie Mills and promotes Nicola McQuaid. Read more…
Triton Pacific has brought aboard Jill Tregillis. Read more…
November 13 - 14, 2019 at The Plaza in New York City
Private Equity | Venture Capital | Credit | Hedge Fund | Real Estate | Real Assets
Join more than 450 senior-level women – GPs and LPs in private equity, venture capital, and other alternatives – in New York City for two days of non-stop networking and dealmaking with peers from across the alternative investment community.
Women Investing in Women
The Engine’s Ann DeWitt guides MIT’s affiliated startup accelerator into a company co-founded by Irene Bosch that she says is “transforming possibilities for health for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.” Read more…
Ben Franklin Technology Partners, whose CEO and president is RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, backs the developer of a walnut-based functional beverage founded by Tessa Balencic and her husband, Dr. Jordan Balencic. Read more…
Disruption Ventures, which Elaine Kunda created to back female-founded companies, has backed ePACT Network, founded by Christine Sommers and Kirsten Koppang Telford, which had previously raised capital from Pique Fund, a Vancouver, B.C.-based firm founded by Bonnie Foley-Wong. Read more…
The Dish on the Deal
Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, pours capital into a company seeking to transform the way coffee is roasted, distributed and sold. Read more…
Luminate Capital Partners, whose founder and managing partner is Hollie Haynes, invests in a provider of customer training and learning software solutions. Read more…
The Riverside Company’s Suzy Kriscunas and Fei Ren are involved in the firm’s sale of a portfolio company to another private equity firm. Read more…
Madrona Venture Group’s Hope Cochran backs a company that is seeking to solve a problem that she herself has encountered over the years as a chief financial officer, investor and public company board member. Read more…
Rohini Chakravarthy makes her first publicly disclosed investment since joining NGP Capital as a partner last year. Read more…
Archangels, whose chief investment officer is Sarah Hardy, and Scottish Investment Bank, whose director is Kerry Sharp, have once again joined up to back a company — this one focused on addressing antibiotic resistance. Read more…
Veronica Wu, managing partner of Hone Capital, backs a company that is helping children learn computer science, whose prior investors include Third Kind Venture Capital, which was founded by Shana Fisher. Read more…
Cortec Group sells a company with which Allison Sacks Klazkin was involved. Read more…
Backstory: Industry Data and Analysis
No items this week.
If you have data and analysis relevant to women in the private equity industry that you would like to share, please feel free to forward it to David Barry, Editor
Stepping Out in Public
Vir Biotechnology, a portfolio company of ARCH Venture Partners’ Kristina Burow and Gates Foundation Venture Capital’s Charlotte Hubbert, files to go public. Read more…
It’s a Wrap: Fund Closures
A Chinese venture firm co-founded by Maggie Yang closes its second U.S. Dollar-denominated venture fund. Read more…
MiddleGround Capital, which was co-founded by Lauren Mulholland, closes its debut fund in just nine months. Read more…
If you have news about fund closures in the private equity industry, please feel free to forward it to David Barry, Editor.
Venture Valkyrie
Check out the Venture Valkyrie blog from our Women's PE Briefs underwriter, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.
Leading Ladies: Women-Run Companies in the News
Coursera, the online learning platform co-founded by Daphne Koller, makes its first acquisition — an event that comes just months after it did a sizable Series E round. Read more…
Aifred Health, a digital health company whose founders include Marina Massingham and Kelly Perlman, closes a round of angel financing. Read more…
Garden Bar, a venture-backed restaurant chain whose founder and CEO is Ana Chaud, has been acquired by another chain. Read more…
Investors get behind a digital health platform co-founded and led by Nan-Wei Gong that measures and tracks body movement as a biomarker. Read more…
Influenster, a product discovery and reviews platform co-founded by Elizabeth Scherle, has been acquired by a private equity firm. Read more…
Koru Kids, which was born out of Rachel Carrell’s difficulty to arrange childcare following the birth of her first child, raises additional capital. Read more…
A company trying to cure type 1 diabetes that was co-founded by Felicia Pagliuca is set to be acquired for nearly $1 billion. Read more…
Top Gun Pressure Washing, Inc., whose co-founder and president is Stephanie White, has been recapitalized by a private equity firm. Read more…
Kabbage, Inc., an online lender for small businesses whose founder and chief operating officer is Kathryn Petralia, acquires a venture-backed small-business data platform. Read more…
Bravo! And the Award Goes to...
No items this week.
If you have news about awards presented to women for their work in the private equity industry, please feel free to forward it to David Barry, Editor.
No Females in Starring Roles
We Would Have Loved To Write About … Cotton Creek Capital and Varsity Healthcare Partners raising their third funds, but neither firm has women on its investment team. https://www.cottoncreekcapital.com/team and https://varsityhealthcarepartners.com/investment-team/.
Do you know of a notable fund or deal that did not involve any senior women? Please let us know so we can draw attention to it. Forward details to David Barry, Editor.
Casting Call! Job Postings
SJF Ventures: Senior Analyst or Associate – New York, San Francisco, or Durham, NC
SJF Ventures is an expansion-stage venture capital firm that seeks superior financial returns by investing in high-growth companies generating positive social and environmental impacts. SJF is seeking a senior analyst or associate. This position is suited for talented and experienced individuals who are eager to develop skills in venture capital and impact investing. SJF promotes a horizontal culture in which individuals at all levels are integrated into the venture capital process. The individual will be located in SJF’s New York, San Francisco Bay Area or Durham office and will work with multiple members of SJF’s investment team. Representative responsibilities will include: Identifying investment prospects through research and networking at industry events, reviewing company presentations, performing due diligence on prospect companies, researching industries and competitors, and building and reviewing financial models; supporting portfolio companies in business development and strategy, financing, recruitment, exit events, and impact acceleration initiatives; supporting SJF’s operational activities including marketing and fund administration; and engaging with the SJF investment team to provide new ideas and perspectives on identifying and supporting promising impact businesses. For more information, please visit: https://sjf-ventures.workable.com/jobs/1084580.
Hadean Ventures: Life Science Venture Capital – Associate
Hadean Ventures is a European life science venture fund with offices in Oslo and Stockholm. Hadean recently closed its debut fund as one of the largest VC funds ever launched by a female founder in Europe. Hadean is seeking an associate to join its investment team. A medical or scientific background is required, as well as either some VC experience or experience within consulting or banking. Responsibilities will include deal sourcing, due diligence, managing investment processes, as well as supporting portfolio companies. We offer exciting and rewarding work in an international and collaborative environment. For more information or to submit an application, please contact Ingrid.teigland.akay@hadeanventures.com.
Interested in posting a job opportunity in Women’s PE Briefs for free? Contact us at WPEBriefs@falkmarquesgroup.com.
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