Versant Ventures related stories
All articles and analysis
Turnstone rakes in $11.3 mln in Versant-led Series A fundingTurnstone Biologics Inc, a Toronto-based biotechnology company focused on developing novel oncolytic viral immunotherapies for cancer, has closed $11.3 million in Series A financing. U.S. venture capital firm Versant Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investor FACIT, a trust established by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. With the funding round, Turnstone named Dr. Sammy J. Farah as CEO and Dr. Brian D. Lichty as CTO, while adding Versant Partner Dr. Jerel Davis and Managing Director Dr. Brad Bolzon to its board of directors. The company said it will use the new investment's proceeds to expand development of its product portfolio.
Turnstone rakes in $11.3 mln Series A in Versant-led roundTurnstone Biologics Inc, a biotech company focused on developing novel oncolytic viral immunotherapies for cancer, has closed $11.3 million in Series A funding. Versant Ventures led the round. In addition to the funding, the company has named Dr. Sammy J. Farah as CEO and Dr. Brian D. Lichty as chief technology officer while adding Dr. Jerel Davis and Dr. Brad Bolzon, a partner and managing director at Versant Ventures respectively, to its board of directors.
- Gritstone Oncology racks up $102 mln Series A
San Francisco Bay area-based Gritstone Oncology, a cancer immunotherapy company, has raised $102 million in Series A financing. The investors included Versant Ventures, The Column Group, Clarus Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Redmile Group, Casdin Capital and Transformational Healthcare Opportunity.
Michael Serbinis among appointees to MaRS' board of directorsMaRS Discovery District has made new appointments to its board of directors. They include Michael Serbinis, the former head of Kobo Inc, and the founder and CEO of LEAGUE Inc, a digital health and wellness platform funded last November /canada/2014/11/12/digital-health-and-wellness-startup-league-seeded-with-4-million/ The other appointees are: Annette Verschuren, Chair and CEO of NRStor Inc; Stefan Larson, an entrepreneur-in-residence at Versant Ventures and the founding CEO of Northern Biologics /canada/2014/12/10/newly-formed-northern-biologics-receives-10-mln-from-versant-ventures/ ; and Martha Tory, a former partner at Ernst & Young LLP. Toronto-based MaRS is an innovation hub that supports startups in health, clean-tech and information technology sectors.
- Therachon fetches $35 mln Series A
France-based Therachon, a developer of treatments for achondroplasia, has secured $35 million in Series A funding. OrbiMed led the round with participation from New Enterprise Associates, Inserm Transfer Initiative and Versant Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Dr. Stephen Squinto, a venture partner at OrbiMed and Dr. Sara Nayeem, a principal at NEA, have been added to the board of directors.
- Data spotlight: OpenDNS purchase leads M&A activity in August
Sale of cyber security company lifts deal total to $2.4 billion for the month.
Data spotlight: OpenDNS purchase leads M&A activity in AugustSale of cyber security company lifts deal total to $2.4 billion for the month.
- Veran Medical raises $30 mln
Veran Medical Technologies Inc. closed a $30.6 million round of financing led by Versant Ventures and River Cities Capital Funds. Axisting investors Prolog Ventures, Advantage Capital, Rex Health Ventures, 3G Capital, Dynamic Investments and Vectis also participated. St. Louis-based Veran Medical is a medical device company.
Versant targets Northeast U.S. with third incubatorVersant Ventures has launched its third life sciences incubator with an eye toward developing a new generation of biotech startups linked to top academic institutions in the Northeast United States.
Canadian venture capital, private equity deals surge in 2015Deal-making activity in Canada’s venture capital and private equity arena surged in the first half of 2015, driven by a spate of financings in the tech start-up space and large investments in energy assets, data from Thomson Reuters showed this week.