Welcome to the fourteenth edition of the Slater Technology Fund E-News, designed to keep you informed of recent developments occurring at Slater and its portfolio companies. We hope you enjoy this communication from Slater, and we look forward to sharing more exciting news with you in the months to come. For more information, call 831-6633 or visit www.slaterfund.com.
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Slater Participates in Series A of Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals
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Slater has provided additional funding to biotech startup Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals, which is focused on the discovery and development of a new class of small molecule drugs to treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Slater joins Access BridgeGap Ventures in this latest $5.4M round, which brings the fund's total investment in Mnemosyne to $1 million. The company also recently announced a drug discovery collaboration agreement with Jubilant Biosys Limited.
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Slater Reinvests in VCharge as Part of $1.9M Round
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Slater recently provided an additional round of funding to smart grid company VCharge, joining the Clean Energy Venture Group, Launchpad Venture Group and EO Ventures in a $1.9 million total round. Slater's total investment in the company is now at $250,000, which the company will use to expand the penetration of its transitive load platform.
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Slater Provides Second Round of Funding to Alektrona
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Slater has committed $200,000 in funding to Providence-based Alektrona, bringing its total investment in the company to $450,000. This most recent funding, made alongside multiple co-investors including the city of Providence, will allow Alektrona to further develop its energy services enablement platform for penetration into the smart grid application, energy efficiency, and HVAC markets. The company's platform is currently in beta and is being implemented by multiple partners and utilities for demand-side management, consumer monitoring and control, and energy efficiency improvement.
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NABsys Announces Key Appointments
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NABsys recently expanded its management team with the addition of Stan Rose, Ph.D., as its first chief commercial officer. As NABsys makes its transition from technology development to product commercialization, Dr. Rose will lead the company's efforts to address diagnostic opportunities for positional sequencing. Dr. Jeffrey Sklar, director of the Molecular Diagnostics Program, Molecular Genetics Pathology Fellowship, and Molecular Tumor Profiling Laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine, has also joined NABsys' scientific advisory board. |
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EpiVax Wins $1.5M NIH Grant
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Providence-based EpiVax Inc. was recently awarded a $1.5 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health to research formulation, dose and the form of delivery for Tregitope, a peptide that has been shown to suppress and treat autoimmune disease and allergies. Administered by the NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Disease, the award will enable EpiVax to move its treatment into preclinical studies and prepare for an IND application in the coming months.
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Traction Software Named MIT Sloan CIO Symposium Innovation Showcase Finalist
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Providence-based Traction Software will present its technology as part of the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium's 2012 Innovation Showcase on May 22nd in Cambridge. As one of ten companies selected to participate in the showcase, Traction was chosen for its demonstration of innovation in enterprise IT solutions and potential impact on the top and bottom lines. The company will demonstrate its technology to influential IT executives from around the country at the annual event.
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MoFuse Partners with Mobile Publishing and Ad Solutions Provider to Develop Mobile Websites for Businesses
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Providence-based MoFuse recently joined Spreed Inc., a mobile publishing and advertising solutions provider, to offer mobile web development services to media organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The agreement enables media outlets to provide mobile websites to businesses to increase advertising revenue and brings MoFuse's solution to small businesses working with newspapers and online media outlets over both countries.
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Slater Ramps Up Entrepreneurial Fellows Program
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Slater kicked off its 2012 Entrepreneurial Fellows Program in March with a new cohort of science and business students from RI-based universities. Fellows engage in venture development by working with researchers and entrepreneurs to learn the process of startup formation. This year's program is led by Slater Entrepreneur-in-Residence and former high-tech company founder and investment analyst Lou Mazzucchelli. Emphasis will be geared to presenting career development pathways for students in RI's innovation economy.
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Slater Receives First Allocation of $9M Federal Funding
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Slater recently completed its agreement with the RI Economic Development Corporation pursuant to which Slater expects to receive $9 million of investment capital as part of the $13.1-million federal economic development grant from the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) announced this past October. Slater has received the first tranche of $1.5 million and has already begun to deploy the capital, starting with a reinvestment in Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals.
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