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Vera Therapeutics Launches with $80 Million Series C Financing to Develop Phase 2b Novel Biologic for Kidney Disease

Abingworth

Potential first-in-class disease-modifying biologic in late-stage clinical studiesExperienced executive development team from Gilead Sciences

 

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 19, 2021 – Vera Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immunological and inflammatory diseases, today announced its launch backed by $80 million Series C financing led by Abingworth LLP. Other investors included Sofinnova Investments, Longitude Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Octagon Capital, Kleiner Perkins, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Alexandria Venture Investments.

Proceeds from the financing will support the advancement of Vera’s lead clinical candidate, atacicept, a novel inhibitor of B cells and plasma cells, in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). The proceeds will also be used to scale the company’s manufacturing capabilities and expand Vera’s therapeutic pipeline in immunologic and inflammatory disease.

In-licensed from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, atacicept has been studied previously in autoimmune diseases and shown to reduce autoantibodies in a dose-dependent fashion with once-weekly subcutaneous dosing and has a well-established and acceptable clinical safety profile. New clinical trial results in patients with IgAN presented in 2020 showed that atacicept significantly reduces galactose-deficient immunoglobulin A (Gd-IgA1) – the source of immune complexes that cause disease­ – and proteinuria. Vera is on track to start a Phase 2b study in IgAN patients in mid-2021 and is investing in commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities.

“The strong support of our syndicate reflects strong conviction in Vera’s clinical development experience and the potential of our lead asset to target the source of immune complexes in patients with IgAN and change the standard of care,” said founder and CEO Marshall Fordyce, MD. “Unlike other drugs in development to treat IgAN, a rare disease with no approved treatments, atacicept significantly reduces galactose-deficient immunoglobulin A (Gd-IgA1) – the source of immune complexes that cause disease – at doses with a well-established and acceptable safety profile. Therefore, atacicept may be uniquely positioned to be disease-modifying for these patients with no current treatment options.”

Vera has executive and clinical development teams with deep experience in drug development and commercialization from Gilead Sciences. Joanne Curley, previously Vice President of Project and Portfolio Management, joined as Chief Development Officer; Lauren Frenz, who previously led US marketing of GENVOYA, joined as Chief Business Officer; and Tom Doan, previously Executive Director, Clinical Operations and Therapeutic Area Head, Inflammatory/Respiratory, was appointed Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations.

The Company’s Board of Directors includes Kurt von Emster (Managing Partner, Abingworth), Patrick Enright (Managing Director, Longitude Capital), Maha Katabi (General Partner, Sofinnova Investments), Beth Seidenberg (General Partner, Kleiner Perkins), Scott Morrison (former Partner and U.S. Life Sciences Leader, Ernst & Young), Andrew Cheng (President and CEO, Akero Therapeutics), and Marshall Fordyce (President and CEO, Vera Therapeutics).

“Vera has an outstanding team with track records in successful clinical and commercial development,” said Abingworth’s Managing Partner Kurt von Emster. “Dr. Fordyce brings significant leadership and entrepreneurial experience to this unique opportunity, where we have a clear line-of-sight from a well-validated biologic target to a substantially de-risked drug product, in a disease area that is commercially underserved, presenting a near-term opportunity to demonstrate disease modification for patients with limited options.”

 

About Vera Therapeutics

Vera Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immunological and inflammatory diseases. Vera’s mission is to develop and commercialize transformative new therapies that improve patients’ lives. Vera’s lead program is atacicept, a fusion protein that is a dual inhibitor of B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), which is in development for IgA nephropathy (IgAN), also known as Berger’s disease. Longer-term, the Company is building a pipeline of clinical-stage molecules with the potential to substantially improve lives. For more information please visit: www.veratx.com.

 

About Abingworth
Abingworth is a leading transatlantic life sciences investment firm. Abingworth helps transform cutting-edge science into novel medicines by providing capital and expertise to top calibre management teams building world-class companies. Since 1973, Abingworth has invested in 168 life science companies, leading to 44 M&As and 69 IPOs. Our therapeutic focused investments fall into three categories: seed and early-stage, development stage, and clinical co-development. Abingworth supports its portfolio companies with a team of experienced professionals at offices in London, Menlo Park (California), and Boston. For more info, please visit abingworth.com.

 

About Atacicept

Atacicept is a recombinant fusion protein that contains the soluble TACI receptor that binds to the cytokines B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL). These cytokines are members of the tumor necrosis factor family that promote B-cell survival and autoantibody production associated with certain autoimmune diseases, including IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger’s disease, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Unlike other drugs currently in development for IgAN, atacicept is a novel, disease-modifying agent that is a dual inhibitor of BLyS and APRIL, positioned for best-in-class targeting of B-cells and plasma cells, to reduce autoantibodies, and a well-established and acceptable clinical safety profile. Atacicept also has a proven dose-dependent effect on key biomarkers and clinical markers and a well-established safety profile compared to other drugs in development for IgAN.

 

Media Contact:

Greig Communications, Inc.
Kathy Vincent
(310) 403-8951
kathy@greigcommunications.com

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Montagu Private Equity to acquire majority position in ITRS Group from TA Associates

TA associates

Montagu Private Equity (“Montagu”), a leading European private equity firm, today announces it has agreed to acquire a majority position in ITRS Group (“ITRS”), a leading global provider of real-time monitoring and analytics software from TA Associates (“TA”), who will remain a minority holder alongside Montagu and Management.

Completion is expected next month, subject to customary closing requirements. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ITRS’ software portfolio supports the “always on” enterprise, ensuring operational resilience for businesses operating in environments where technology failure means business failure. Headquartered in London, the company has established itself as an innovative and trusted partner, and today has over 3,000 clients across the globe, including nine out of the ten Tier 1 investment banks. In addition, its recent acquisition of Uptrends, a Netherlands-based website and web performance monitoring solution, has further strengthened ITRS’ product suite.

Since its establishment in 1997, ITRS has transformed from a European, single product solution to the capital markets industry, to today providing a comprehensive product suite to customers across a range of industries, including capital markets, telecommunications and healthcare. This has been achieved through impressive organic growth and M&A activity, and Montagu intends to work with the management team and leverage its experience, network and resources to continue to drive growth and further expansion.

Guy Warren, CEO of ITRS, said: “We are delighted to welcome Montagu into ITRS Group. Under TA Associates’ ownership, we have broadened our product suite and significantly expanded our customer base, and we thank them for their continued support. The Montagu team have shown a strong understanding of our business and its potential, and share our ambitions, and we are excited to partner with them for the next stage of growth.”

Christoph Leitner-Dietmaier, Director at Montagu, said: “It is a privilege for Montagu to back Guy and his leadership team, and we look forward to partnering with TA on this investment in ITRS. We are truly impressed by the leading position ITRS has established and are excited to support their vision of becoming the single pane of glass for IT monitoring for the enterprise customer.”

Morgan Seigler, Managing Director at TA, said: “We have greatly enjoyed partnering with Guy and the entire team at ITRS over the last four years to help drive the company’s growth and expansion. We look forward to collaborating with the ITRS team and Montagu to continue this successful journey.”

The sellers were advised by Jefferies International and Travers Smith LLP. Montagu was advised by Arma Partners and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

About Montagu Private Equity
Montagu Private Equity is one of Europe’s leading private equity firms and has been investing in businesses for over fifty years. Montagu’s investment strategy is focused on partnership with management in buyouts of high-quality companies operating in stable and growing sectors, providing products and services that their customers would badly miss. It develops a shared strategic vision with management and then provides the necessary financial, strategic and operational resources to help realise that vision and support growth. Montagu partners with companies with enterprise values between €200 million and €1 billion and has €8bn assets under management. For additional information on Montagu, visit www.montagu.com

About TA Associates
TA Associates is a leading global growth private equity firm. Focused on targeted sectors within five industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – TA invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, the firm employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in high quality growth companies. TA has raised $33.5 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of over $3 billion per year. The firm’s more than 100 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.

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bonify acquires loan brokerage software from Joonko AG

Mouro Capital

Berlin-based fintech bonify, Germany’s leading credit rating platform, has acquired the credit brokerage software of Joonko AG. With this acquisition, bonify optimises the distribution and brokerage of consumer loans on its online platform.

With the acquisition of the credit brokerage software, bonify is taking consumer lending to a new level. “By integrating Joonko’s technology, bonify users can apply for a loan and realise long-held dreams faster and easier than ever before”, commented Dr. Andreas Bermig, co-founder of bonify. “The process, starting with the loan comparison and ending with the signing of the contract, takes place completely digitally in just a few minutes”. The new loan brokerage software is expected to be in place as early as spring 2021.

Lending gets faster, easier and completely digital

Anyone who has ever applied for a loan in Germany knows how inconvenient and lengthy the process can be. Discussions and appointments with the bank, the submission of documents such as proof of salary and creditworthiness, as well as the cumbersome verification on site or via PostIdent procedure unnecessarily drag out the application. With the digital account view, the process is optimised and digitalised. “A large part of the more than one million bonify users have already linked their bank account with their own bonify account. The connection enables us to suggest credit offers to our users that are perfectly tailored to their financial situation”, explains Bermig.

The use of the new technology eliminates the need to upload, print and send in documents. Identification and signing are conveniently carried out online. Thanks to the Videoident and eSign processes, the loan application can be completed in just a few minutes from the comfort of your home. All that is needed is an official identification document, such as an ID card, and a video camera. The loan is paid out a few days after the loan agreement has been processed.

bonify – Forteil GmbH | Reichenberger Straße 124 | Aufgang B-5 | 10999 Berlin presse@bonify.de | +49 30 346 466 709

About bonify

The FinTech start-up bonify enables consumers to gain transparency on both credit score and on financial situation. bonify enables users to check their credit score online at any time and free of charge. In addition, bonify offers various financial management tools for the analysis and optimisation of their financial situation. Based on this, users receive product offers tailored to their own creditworthiness – including loans and offers for gas, electricity, or DSL internet. Other free products include ‘tenant information’ for finding accommodation and ‘FinFitness’ for assessing and actively improving financial health. bonify was founded in Berlin in 2015 and is managed by Dr. Gamal Moukabary (Founder), Dr. Andreas Bermig (Founder), Raj Cheemakurti (CPTO), Frank Stowasser (VP Marketing) and Sarah Schuster (VP Growth & Customer Engagement). The startup currently employs more than 30 people from over 15 nations. Renowned investors such as Experian, Santander InnoVentures, Mosaic Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures and DN Capital as well as the founders of Zalando and Raisin have so far invested in bonify. bonify is an account information service approved and supervised by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Learn more at ​www​.bonify.de.

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RAD-x adds Radiologisches Zentrum Lahnstein (RZL) to its group

GIlde Healthcare

Utrecht (the Netherlands) – RAD-x is welcoming Radiologisches Zentrum Lahnstein (“RZL”) in its group.

Radiologisches Zentrum Lahnstein is a provider of diagnostic imaging services in the region Koblenz, Germany. Its three radiologists and almost 30 staff serve the community in and around Lahnstein and provide imaging services to several local hospitals.

RAD-x is pleased to see its Partnership model confirmed by the integration of RZL and expects to further accelerate the growth of its platform structure in 2021.

 

About Gilde Healthcare

Gilde Healthcare is a specialized healthcare investor managing over $1.5 billion across two fund strategies: venture & growth capital and private equity. Gilde Healthcare’s venture & growth capital fund invests in fast growing companies active in digital health, MedTech and therapeutics. The venture & growth companies are based in Europe and North America. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.gildehealthcare.com.

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Gimv sells OTN Systems, a provider of telecommunication solutions for industrial markets, to listed Belden Inc.

GIMV

Gimv, co-shareholders Manuardeo and management, today announce that they are selling OTN Systems to US-based Belden Inc., a global provider of telecommunication transmission and security solutions for corporate and industrial markets. Having expanded significantly after sustained development efforts, OTN Systems is ready to continue growing internationally with Belden Inc.

Gimv acquired the OTN business unit from Nokia Siemens Networks via a carve-out in 2008 and subsequently established OTN Systems (Olen-B, www.otnsystems.com). The company develops and distributes mission-critical telecommunication solutions for industrial markets such as electricity, transport and oil & gas.

OTN Systems successfully launched XTran, a next generation platform tailored for industrial applications. Its underlying network technology choices avoid the complexity of generic solutions developed for Telecom Operators. XTran secures reliable operations in harsh environments, while its management system (TXCare) supports an intuitive and simple handling.

Under the energetic leadership of its CEO, telecom & technology veteran Dirk Van den Berghen (ex-Alcatel and ex-LMS/Siemens), OTN Systems successfully deployed XTran in the global market thanks to a sustained development effort, substantial operational improvements and a significant expansion of the global partner network, including a number of important OEM agreements such as with Belden Inc..
Today OTN Systems operates across the world through its own sales offices and many local partners. The company employs more than 140 people, about 60 of them in R&D. Since its market introduction in 2015, more than 100 customers worldwide have selected XTran as they migrated their legacy telecom networks to a next generation technology.

In the transaction announced today, Gimv along with co-shareholders Manuardeo and management, are selling OTN Systems to US-based Belden Inc. (NYSE: BDC), a global provider of telecommunication transmission and security solutions for corporate and industrial markets. Belden employs approximately 7 000 people worldwide and in 2019 posted consolidated sales of 2.13 billion USD.

Bart Diels, Managing Partner at Gimv and Chairman of the Board of OTN Systems, states: “We are particularly proud that OTN Systems has built a top-notch product portfolio. In several recent projects, OTN Systems’ commercial teams and XTran have outperformed larger telecommunications suppliers, resulting in exponential growth. As part of the Belden group, OTN Systems is now ideally placed to continue growing internationally.”

Dirk Van den Berghen, CEO of OTN Systems, adds: “OTN Systems’ commercial success with XTran is the result of clear choices made. Unlike its larger traditional competitors, OTN Systems focuses exclusively on the specific telecommunication needs of industrial networks. It has also chosen to devote almost all its attention and resources to developing and marketing the new technology platform, without neglecting the many existing customers of the more mature OTN legacy product. The acquisition by Belden will further accelerate the sales expansion of the XTran portfolio as an essential part of a broader solution for industrial customers, marketed by a larger, global sales organization.” 

This transaction has a positive impact of about 15 million euro on Gimv’s net asset value as per 30 September 2020. The return over the entire investment period exceeds Gimv’s long-term average. No further financial details will be disclosed.

Read the full press release:

English – French – Dutch
Gimv
Karel Oomsstraat 37, 2018 Antwerpen, Belgium
www.gimv.com

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Capsule Technologies To Be Acquired by Philips

Franciso Partners

Press Release – January 19 2021

Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and healthcare businesses, announced today the pending sale of Capsule Technologies, Inc. (“Capsule”) to Royal Philips (“Philips”) for $635 million in cash consideration.

Francisco Partners’ investment in Capsule helped support the company’s growth and expansion across medical device integration, patient monitoring, and clinical surveillance solutions. Founded in 1997, the company has grown to serve over 2,800 hospitals and healthcare organizations in 40 countries, impacting over 20 million patients annually.

“It has been a pleasure to partner with Capsule’s management team to help grow this important business,” said Chris Adams, Partner at Francisco Partners. “Capsule is a key enabler of the digital hospital, and we have been especially proud of how impactful it has been in supporting global healthcare organizations with the challenges of COVID-19. The team has delivered exceptional growth through constant customer focus and high-quality service.”

Justin Chen, Principal at Francisco Partners, added, “We are thrilled to have helped the Capsule team build their business. They have been at the forefront of delivering mission critical and innovative healthcare solutions to liberate medical data and improve patient safety. The company is in a tremendous position, and we wish the team continued success as a part of Philips.”

Hemant Goel, CEO of Capsule, said, “Francisco Partners has been a supportive strategic partner over the past few years. Their team has been invaluable, executing on the carveout, providing thought leadership, and investing into the business to help us grow rapidly and build an enduring and strategic position. We are very proud of what the entire Capsule organization and employees have been able to accomplish together. We are excited to join Philips and continue our mission of empowering clinicians with simplified workflows and timely, actionable insights.”

Philips and Capsule are long-term partners jointly offering solutions to healthcare organizations globally. The companies share similar values and ambition to improve patient outcomes. The pending acquisition by Philips will allow both companies to enhance the value they provide to their customers and patients. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory clearances in relevant jurisdictions outside of the U.S., and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021. The company with its leadership team and approximately 300 employees will become part of Philips’ Connected Care segment.

Barclays served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal advisor to Capsule Technologies.

About Capsule Technologies

Capsule Technologies is a leading global provider of medical data technologies for hospitals and healthcare organizations. Our Medical Device Information Platform — comprised of device integration, vital signs monitoring, and clinical surveillance solutions — captures streaming clinical data from connected systems and transforms it into context-rich information for clinical documentation, alarm management, patient surveillance, decision support, predictive analytics, clinical research and more. End-to-end data management and connectivity supports better collaboration and communication between clinicians and departments. More than 2,800 global clients leverage our platform to improve patient safety, simplify workflows and raise overall satisfaction throughout the hospital and across care settings. Learn more at www.capsuletech.com.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch more than 20 years ago, Francisco Partners has raised over $24 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 300 technology companies, making it one of the most active and longstanding investors in the technology industry. The firm invests in opportunities where its deep sectoral knowledge and operational expertise can help companies realize their full potential. For more information on Francisco Partners, please visit www.franciscopartners.com.

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Forbion invests USD 2.3M in seed financing of CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc.

Forbion

in company news

Proceeds used to develop small molecule inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses

Naarden, The Netherlands, and Munich, Germany, January 19 2021 – Forbion, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, today announces a $2.3m seed investment in newly formed CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc. (“CoviCept”), a California-based company that is developing a small molecule that inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and other RNA viruses.

CoviCept’s lead molecule has a unique mechanism of action that is based on interference of a host cell protein and is therefore expected to have a low risk of viral resistance. It has been demonstrated to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in a relevant mammalian model at a clinically relevant dose. A manufacturing process for the lead compound has been established and it has demonstrated good bioavailability and safety in humans in phase 1 studies.

CoviCept was founded by Sam Tsimikas, Philip Gordts and Jeffrey Esko, all from the University of California San Diego. The Company’s aim is to initiate a first clinical study in the second half of 2021.

Professor Tsimikas, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CoviCept, commented: “We are pleased that Forbion has invested in us to support our continued development of a much-needed direct therapeutic option to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other RNA viruses. Forbion will provide the necessary financial and management support to allow the Company to achieve Phase 2 proof of concept data. Forbion’s track record and expertise in supporting the development of early-stage companies make them the ideal partner for CoviCept.”

Sander van Deventer, Operating Partner of Forbion, added: “Our investment in CoviCept is an example of Forbion’s commitment to responsible drug development. RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV, Ebola, Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika are the most likely cause of future pandemics. A small molecule like CoviCept’s, that can be stockpiled to be immediately available and that could be used in multiple viruses, is of enormous benefit to global health.”

The board of directors of CoviCept will comprise Sam Tsimikas, Philip Gordts, Jeffrey Esko and Sander van Deventer (Forbion).

-Ends-

For more information please contact:
Forbion contact:
Sander van Deventer, Operating Partner
P: +31 (0) 35 699 30 00

Instinctif Partners for Forbion
Melanie Toyne-Sewell/Phillip Marriage
Email: forbion@instinctif.com
P: +44 (0)207 457 2020

Notes to Editors

About Forbion
Forbion is a dedicated life sciences venture capital firm with offices in The Netherlands, Germany and Singapore. Forbion invests in life sciences companies that are active in the (bio-) pharmaceutical space.
Forbion manages well over EUR 1.7 billion across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio)pharmaceutical drug development. Forbion’s current team consists of 20 life sciences investment professionals that have built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with successful investments in over 69 companies.

The firm is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Besides financial objectives, Forbion selects investments that will positively affect the health and well-being of patients.
Its investors include the EIF, through its European Recovery Programme (ERP), LfA, Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI), AMUF and EFSI facilities and KfW Capital through the Programme, “ERP – Venture Capital Fonds investments”. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early-stage funds, especially focused on Benelux and Germany.

For more information, please visit: www.forbion.com.

About CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc.
CoviCept Therapeutics, Inc. is a newly founded company based in San Diego, USA, focused on the development of a small molecule that inhibits the replication and spread of RNA viruses, including SARS-Cov-2.

CoviCept’s lead program
CoviCept is developing a small molecule that targets a host protein that is critical for RNA viral replication and that has shown efficacy in a preclinical model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and in cell cultures infected with various RNA viruses including Zika and Dengue. The lead molecule has shown good tolerability, availability and biodistribution in humans.

RNA viruses and pandemics
RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-1 (“COVID”), SARS-CoV-2 (“SARS”), MERS-CoV (“MERS”), Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and Ebola, are considered to be the most likely causes of devastating global pandemics. Vaccination strategies can prevent the spread of these viruses and protect individuals but require a significant lead time before implementation and showing efficacy. Hence, a small molecule that can be stockpiled and used to inhibit viral replication of these viruses would be an integral component of the response to pandemics caused by RNA viruses.

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SPINS Announces Growth Investment Led by Warburg Pincus

General Atlantic

General Atlantic and Georgian also invest in business; partnership to accelerate SPINS’ strategic initiatives and growth opportunities

January 19, 2021

SPINS, a leading wellness-focused data, analytics and technology provider in the U.S., today announced a significant investment from Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Georgian. The growth investment will support future strategic initiatives including sales and marketing expansion, retail partner value expansion, new product development, and new vertical expansion. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For two decades, SPINS has been a passionate advocate for the Natural and Specialty Products Industry. SPINS is committed to laying the foundation for the next generation of growth, providing dynamic data, actionable insights, product attributions, and digital activation solutions. SPINS helped establish a common language across the health and wellness ecosystem for key stakeholders including retailers, brands, distributors and consumers.

“Our mission has always been to increase the presence and accessibility of natural and better-for-you products that help people live their healthiest and best lives and drive sustainable production practices in North America. This mission, combined with our expertise in product intelligence and insights, is leading to more vibrant living for consumers and bigger success of our clients,” said Tony Olson, Founder & CEO, SPINS LLC. “We are beyond thrilled to take our vision to the next level with Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Georgian by leveraging their global resources and experience in data and information businesses to enable SPINS to meet the rapidly growing demand for our services.”

“SPINS is the leading provider of omni-channel and retailer-specific product measurement, mission-critical performance data, and unique insights into consumer trends and digital activation. We are incredibly excited to partner with Tony and the rest of the SPINS team,” said Stephanie Geveda, Managing Director, Head of Business Services, Warburg Pincus. “This investment underscores our long-term commitment to strategically investing in market-leading, vertical-specific B2B information services businesses that capture unique data,” added Justin Sadrian, Managing Director, Technology, Warburg Pincus.

“SPINS has developed a highly-differentiated industry platform that serves as a pivotal source for business performance and market information to retail and consumer brands. Supported by Tony’s strategic vision, SPINS continuously innovates on its platform to meet customers’ evolving needs, which has allowed the company to build deep relationships in the wellness retail market,” said Peter Munzig, Managing Director, General Atlantic. “We’re looking forward to working alongside the SPINS team as they continue to expand the reach of their suite of digital solutions to address untapped growth opportunities in the market.”

“SPINS has been on a mission to accelerate the rapidly growing Natural and Specialty Products Industry by providing unique insights to retailers and brands,” said Margaret Wu, Lead Investor at Georgian. “The company’s rich dataset has enabled the team to develop a high-value AI roadmap that will drastically enhance its product intelligence offerings. We are excited to partner with SPINS on this journey and support the team in helping customers realize greater value, faster.”

Jefferies LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor and Reed Smith LLP served as legal advisor for SPINS.

About SPINS

SPINS is a wellness-focused data company and advocate for the Natural Products Industry. Over the past two decades, SPINS’ investments have led to a common language used across the industry as well as laid the foundation for the next generation of innovation, while providing dynamic data, actionable insights, and digital activation solutions that drive growth for our clients & partners and contribute to a healthier and more vibrant America. Learn more at www.spins.com.

About Warburg Pincus

Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The firm has more than $56 billion in private equity assets under management. The firm’s active portfolio of more than 190 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus has been a long-time, active investor in vertical-specific data and information businesses, with investments including, Reorg Research, Intelligent Medical Objects, RS Energy, CAMP Systems, Gordian Group, Interactive Data Corporation, and TurnItIn. Warburg Pincus also has significant experience investing across the food and food retail technology value chain, with investments including, Certified Sciences, GA Foods, and Grubhub Seamless, Salsify, and Trax. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 19 private equity funds, which have invested more than $86 billion in over 910 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information please visit www.warburgpincus.com.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market-leading businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 175 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo, Shanghai and Singapore. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit the website: www.generalatlantic.com.

About Georgian

Georgian is a fintech company investing in high growth software companies that harness the power of data in a trustworthy way. At Georgian, we’re building a platform to provide a better experience of growth capital to software company CEOs and their teams. Georgian’s platform is designed to identify and accelerate the best growth-stage software companies, taking an intelligent, data-first approach to solving the key challenges CEOs face as they grow their businesses. Based in Toronto, Georgian’s team brings together software entrepreneurs, machine learning experts, experienced operators and investment professionals. For more information, visit https://georgian.io/.

Media Contacts

Mary Armstrong & Emily Japlon
General Atlantic media@generalatlantic.com

Michael Erwin
SPINS merwin@spins.com

Sarah McGrath Bloom
Warburg Pincus Sarah.Bloom@warburgpincus.com

Katie Schiefer
Georgian katie@georgian.io

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EURAZEO invests in PPRO, leading local payments infrastructure platform

Eurazeo

Paris, 19 January 2021 –
Eurazeo, through Eurazeo Growth, announces a €55 million investment in PPRO, the most trusted infrastructure provider in the cross-border alternative payments space. Eurazeo Growth is co-leading this round of €153 million, alongside Sprints Capital and Wellington Management among other investors.

After Younited Credit, Wefox, Thought Machine and Tink, PPRO is Eurazeo Growth’s fifth investment in the Fintech sector and a testament to Europe’s innovation engine for financial services.
Headquartered in London, PPRO employs over 300 employees spread across 9 offices globally. The Company offers a payments infrastructure platform and value-added services that allow its customers and their underlying merchants to access over 150 alternative payment methods through one single API, while offloading the intricate complexities and massive costs of providing choice of payment method to local consumers.

Today, the Company counts 130 customers, fuelling cross-border e-Commerce growth for some of the world’s leading payment service providers such as Alipay, Mollie, PayPal, WorldPay, Citibank and Mastercard Payment Gateway Services. In addition, it serves 30 select enterprise customers with proprietary payment platforms including Adobe and Microsoft.
Capitalising on its market leading position, the Company doubled its year-on-year transaction volume in the fourth quarter of 2020, expanded its global team by 60% in the last twelve months, and developed new strategic partnerships with local payment methods in high-growth markets like Indonesia and Singapore. The funding will fuel PPRO’s continued global expansion and support the development of its innovative border-free payment technology and services.

Yann du Rusquec, Partner at Eurazeo Growth, states:
«We have been impressed by the level of maturity and ambitiousness of the organisation, Simon and his team have demonstrated throughout our interactions. Their local payment expertise is second to none, as recognised by some of the most influential players within payments. We are experiencing first hands the opportunities and challenges the ongoing innovation in payments provide to our marketplace and e-Commerce businesses across our portfolio. Sitting at the intersection of e-Commerce, cross-border trade and the growing adoption of alternative payment methods, PPRO is poised to continue its fast growth and build out its leadership position. Sharing PPRO’s partnership mindset, we are thrilled to be joining their journey alongside existing and new investors Citi Ventures, HPE, PayPal, Sprints and Wellington.»

Simon Black, CEO of PPRO, comments:
«I am so proud of what the PPRO team has accomplished. Beyond securing the support of prestigious investors like Eurazeo, Sprints, and Wellington and achieving a milestone valuation, we’ve enabled our customers to grow at record numbers during what has been a tough time for many. By giving businesses the ability to offer payment choice, we’ve helped give people around the world better access to goods and services that improve their lives. This investment will help us deliver the highest performance possible for companies leading the global payments industry.

About Eurazeo
• Eurazeo is a leading global investment company, with a diversified portfolio of €18.8 billion in assets under management, including €13.3 billion from third parties, invested in over 430 companies. With its considerable private equity, real estate and private debt expertise, Eurazeo accompanies companies of all sizes, supporting their development through the commitment of its nearly 300 professionals and by offering in-depth sector expertise, a gateway to global markets, and a responsible and stable foothold for transformational growth. Its solid institutional and family shareholder base, robust financial structure free of structural debt, and flexible investment horizon enable Eurazeo to support its companies over the long term.
• Eurazeo has offices in Paris, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, London, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin and Madrid.
• Eurazeo is listed on Euronext Paris.
• ISIN : FR0000121121 – Bloomberg : RF FP – Reuters : EURA.PA
EURAZEO EURAZEO

PIERRE BERNARDIN
HEAD OF INVESTOR RELATIONS
mail : pbernardin@eurazeo.com
Tel : +33 (0)1 44 15 16 76

VIRGINIE CHRISTNACHT
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS
mail: vchristnacht@eurazeo.com
Tel: +33( 1 44 15 76 44

MAITLAND/amo
DAVID STURKEN
mail: dsturken@maitland .co .uk
Tel: +44 ( 7990 595 913

 

 

 

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bonify acquires loan brokerage software from Joonko AG

Mouro Capital

Berlin-based fintech bonify, Germany’s leading credit rating platform, has acquired the credit brokerage software of Joonko AG. With this acquisition, bonify optimises the distribution and brokerage of consumer loans on its online platform.

With the acquisition of the credit brokerage software, bonify is taking consumer lending to a new level. “By integrating Joonko’s technology, bonify users can apply for a loan and realise long-held dreams faster and easier than ever before”, commented Dr. Andreas Bermig, co-founder of bonify. “The process, starting with the loan comparison and ending with the signing of the contract, takes place completely digitally in just a few minutes”. The new loan brokerage software is expected to be in place as early as spring 2021.

Lending gets faster, easier and completely digital

Anyone who has ever applied for a loan in Germany knows how inconvenient and lengthy the process can be. Discussions and appointments with the bank, the submission of documents such as proof of salary and creditworthiness, as well as the cumbersome verification on site or via PostIdent procedure unnecessarily drag out the application. With the digital account view, the process is optimised and digitalised. “A large part of the more than one million bonify users have already linked their bank account with their own bonify account. The connection enables us to suggest credit offers to our users that are perfectly tailored to their financial situation”, explains Bermig.

The use of the new technology eliminates the need to upload, print and send in documents. Identification and signing are conveniently carried out online. Thanks to the Videoident and eSign processes, the loan application can be completed in just a few minutes from the comfort of your home. All that is needed is an official identification document, such as an ID card, and a video camera. The loan is paid out a few days after the loan agreement has been processed.

bonify – Forteil GmbH | Reichenberger Straße 124 | Aufgang B-5 | 10999 Berlin presse@bonify.de | +49 30 346 466 709

About bonify

The FinTech start-up bonify enables consumers to gain transparency on both credit score and on financial situation. bonify enables users to check their credit score online at any time and free of charge. In addition, bonify offers various financial management tools for the analysis and optimisation of their financial situation. Based on this, users receive product offers tailored to their own creditworthiness – including loans and offers for gas, electricity, or DSL internet. Other free products include ‘tenant information’ for finding accommodation and ‘FinFitness’ for assessing and actively improving financial health. bonify was founded in Berlin in 2015 and is managed by Dr. Gamal Moukabary (Founder), Dr. Andreas Bermig (Founder), Raj Cheemakurti (CPTO), Frank Stowasser (VP Marketing) and Sarah Schuster (VP Growth & Customer Engagement). The startup currently employs more than 30 people from over 15 nations. Renowned investors such as Experian, Santander InnoVentures, Mosaic Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures and DN Capital as well as the founders of Zalando and Raisin have so far invested in bonify. bonify is an account information service approved and supervised by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Learn more at ​www​.bonify.de.

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