Archives

3i partners with EC Waste to support the company’s growth

3I

3i Group plc (“3i”) today announced that it has closed a majority investment in EC Waste, the largest vertically integrated provider of solid waste services in Puerto Rico. The company’s management team will invest alongside 3i and operations will remain unaffected by the transaction.

With locations throughout Puerto Rico, EC Waste provides multiple waste services to over 80,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company operates four well-located, U.S. EPA compliant disposal sites, which enables EC Waste to serve all of Puerto Rico in an environmentally sensitive manner. Additionally, the company manages two transfer stations, runs the island’s largest solid waste collections network and hosts what will be Puerto Rico’s largest renewable natural gas collection project at its El Coqui facility.

EC Waste has enough capacity to serve the entire island’s needs for decades ahead as communities and businesses consider moving away from non-compliant providers and towards permitted, fully compliant waste disposal options. Additionally, the company has made significant investments into its infrastructure and operations technology to improve performance and position the company for future growth.

Rob Collins, Managing Partner, 3i North American Infrastructure, commented: “This is the third platform investment for our North American Infrastructure business, following Smarte Carte and Regional Rail. EC Waste has a proven track record of providing top tier services to the communities it operates in across the island. We are delighted to support management in growing the company’s sustainable waste practices, including an expansion of its compliant disposal operations and renewable natural gas collection activities.”

Randy Jensen, CEO, EC Waste, added: “We look forward to working with 3i to further position EC Waste as the leading, sustainable solid waste services provider in Puerto Rico. With its long-term investment horizon, 3i is the ideal partner as we look to expand our operations in support of the island’s environmental and sustainability goals.”

Categories: News

Tags:

Mukul Chawla Joins KKR as Head of Growth Equity in Asia Pacific

KKR

Lucian Schönefelder concurrently appointed KKR Advisor to support Asia next generation technology strategy

HONG KONG–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Global investment firm KKR today announced the appointment of Mukul Chawla as Partner and Head of Growth Equity in Asia Pacific. In the newly created role, he will lead and accelerate KKR’s regional investment strategy into emerging, high-growth companies in sectors such as technology, health care, fintech, consumer, and other growth categories. Mr. Chawla’s appointment is effective as of December 9, 2021, and he will be based in Asia while also spending considerable time in KKR’s global offices, including Menlo Park.

Mr. Chawla joins KKR from Temasek, where he was Managing Director, Joint Head of Global Telecom, Media & Technology, Joint-Head of North America, and a member of their investment and management committees. After joining Temasek in 2010, he helped to build their Telecom, Media & Technology and North America franchises based in New York and San Francisco. Mr. Chawla sponsored 39 technology buyout and growth investments including Airbnb, Xiaomi, Doordash, Roblox, Virtu Financial, Dell Technologies, Ancestry and Waymo, and served on 11 boards including GHX, Creative Artists Agency, WebMD, Internet Brands, Fanatics, Blujay (now E2Open) and Intapp. Earlier in his career, he worked at Warburg Pincus in New York, Cisco Systems in Silicon Valley and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in Washington DC. Mr. Chawla holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and a bachelor’s degree from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani.

Ming Lu, Partner and Head of KKR Asia, said, “We are seeing more homegrown innovation and startups originating in Asia than ever before, and the ideas that these companies and entrepreneurs introduce to our global economy have the potential to transform our daily lives and entire industries. Because of this, Asian growth equity is becoming an increasingly important part of the region’s broader investment landscape. As we continue to pursue these attractive investment opportunities, we are excited to welcome an experienced global growth equity investor of Mukul’s caliber to the KKR team. We want to leverage his leadership experience, proven track record, and deep relationships across the region and globally to provide a truly differentiated approach to emerging Asian businesses and help them to achieve their growth aspirations at this exciting time.”

Concurrent with Mr. Chawla’s appointment, KKR announced that Lucian Schönefelder, Partner and Head of Technology investing at KKR Asia, is transitioning to the role of KKR Advisor. Mr. Schönefelder has been at KKR since 2007, and prior to his move to Asia, he was a Partner in KKR’s London office focused on both growth equity and private equity technology investments across Europe and Israel. As a KKR Advisor, Mr. Schönefelder will support KKR’s Asia Pacific next generation technology investment strategy and will advise KKR’s portfolio companies.

“We are grateful to Lucian for his role in building and advancing KKR’s private equity technology and next generation technology strategies in both Asia and Europe,” said Mr. Lu. “He has been a valued member of our team, and we are pleased that Lucian will remain within the KKR family as a KKR Advisor. His insights on next generation technology trends will continue to be a great resource to our team and as KKR accelerates its growth equity technology strategy across the region.”

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Media:

KKR Asia Pacific
Anita Davis
+852 3602 7335
Anita.Davis@kkr.com

Wei Jun Ong
+65 6922 5813
WeiJun.Ong@kkr.com

KKR Americas
Cara Major or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
+1 (212) 750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR

 

Categories: People

Kinnevik Invests USD 115 Million in Jobandtalent, the World’s Leading Digital Temp Staffing Agency

Kinnevik

Kinnevik AB (publ) (“Kinnevik”) today announced that it is investing USD 115m in Jobandtalent, a workforce marketplace that matches workers with temporary roles – aiming to make the labour market more fluid and accessible by tearing down the barriers to job searching and hiring.

Jobandtalent has developed proprietary job matching technology to match workers with temporary roles at companies in a range of sectors including logistics, e-commerce, warehousing, and manufacturing.

Digitalisation and globalisation are forcing employers to adapt to new ways of working, and societal pressures are being placed on companies to embrace a larger share of responsibility for temporary workers that make possible many of the new and innovative services provided in some of Kinnevik’s focus sectors. Within consumer services, Kinnevik has increasingly focused on managed marketplaces that help solve a highly fragmented supply of products and services, and enabler businesses that help alleviate pain points in consumer-facing businesses. The Jobandtalent opportunity sits at the intersection of these themes.

Jobandtalent’s goal is to make it easy for people to find regular, dependable work and have the security and perks typically associated with full time employment – including pensions, sick and holiday pay, and training courses. Workers can apply for and manage roles, submit paperwork, sign contracts, and get paid entirely within the Jobandtalent app. The company is headquartered in Madrid and currently operates in 9 markets with more than 1,300 companies using the platform. Over 100,000 workers have used Jobandtalent to find temporary roles in the first nine months of 2021 alone.

Natalie Tydeman, Senior Investment Director of Kinnevik commented: “We are thrilled to invest in Jobandtalent and support their innovation in the modern labour market through their workforce-as-a-service platform, and placing people back at the centre of employment as Jobandtalent accelerates the growth of their business.”

Juan Urdiales, co-founder and CEO of Jobandtalent commented: “We are delighted to have Kinnevik support us on the next stage of our journey. Kinnevik has an impressive track record in building successful and sustainable global businesses, and shares our long term view and our ambition to have a real impact on the lives of workers all around the world.”

Kinnevik led the USD 500m financing round with an investment of USD 115m for a 5% percent stake joined by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The round ascribes Jobandtalent a valuation of USD 2.35bn. The funding will be used to accelerate the company’s expansion in key markets such as the United States, significantly increase the size of its tech and sales teams over the next two years, and add key executive roles. Jobandtalent is growing by 130% annually and is EBITDA profitable.

For further information, visit www.kinnevik.com or contact:

Torun Litzén, Director Investor Relations
Phone +46 (0)70 762 00 50
Email press@kinnevik.com

Kinnevik’s ambition is to be Europe’s leading listed growth investor, and we back the best digital companies for a reimagined everyday and to deliver significant returns. We understand complex and fast-changing consumer behaviours, and have a strong and expanding portfolio in healthtech, consumer services, foodtech and fintech. As a long-term investor, we strongly believe that investing in sustainable business models and diverse teams will bring the greatest returns for shareholders. We back our companies at every stage of their journey and invest in Europe, with a focus on the Nordics, and in the US. Kinnevik was founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families. Kinnevik’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm’s list for large cap companies under the ticker codes KINV A and KINV B.

Attachment

Categories: News

Tags:

Iodine Software Surpasses $1 Billion Valuation With Strategic Growth Investment from Advent International

Bain Capital Ventures and Silversmith Capital Partners to remain shareholders

Iodine Software (“Iodine” or the “Company”), a leading healthcare AI company, today announced a strategic growth investment from Advent International (“Advent”), one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. Advent will acquire a significant stake in Iodine in a transaction that values the business at over $1 billion. Bain Capital Ventures (“BCV”) and Silversmith Capital Partners (“Silversmith”), which invested in the Company in 2018, will remain shareholders. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Utilizing advancing technology to scale hospital resources, ease administrative burden, and maximize reimbursement is more important than ever,” said William Chan, Iodine’s CEO and co-founder. “We’ve always been committed to building the most powerful, predictive tools available. This investment provides access to capital for expansion and growth strategies so that we can innovate faster and find more ways to empower healthcare leaders to meet with confidence the delicate balance of quality, efficiency, and system financial resilience.”

Iodine Software provides the leading clinical AI solution for highly accurate capture of patient documentation. The Company’s platforms are trusted by more than 800 hospitals and are used by more than 80,000 healthcare providers nationwide.

Iodine’s AwareCDI solution recently received the top overall performance score in the 2021 KLAS Clinical Documentation Improvement Report. The company also recently completed the acquisitions of Artifact Health and ChartWise to broaden its market reach, bolster its portfolio and deliver a comprehensive query transformation solution that solves a critical physician pain point.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Iodine Software as it continues to experience rapid growth across hospitals and health systems,” said Carmine Petrone, a Managing Director on Advent’s Healthcare team. “Iodine’s world-class AI innovation engine and strong customer focus underpin the company’s ability to deliver a best-in-class product with highly differentiated value.” Lauren Young, a Managing Director on Advent’s technology team, added: “With our extensive experience scaling software and healthcare businesses, we look forward to working with Bain Capital Ventures and Silversmith Capital Partners to support William and the entire Iodine team to continue driving innovation and building a leading AI/machine learning-driven revenue cycle management platform.”

This investment will empower Iodine to invest further in its AI engine, CognitiveML, to power new and additional products in other strategic areas of care delivery for health systems.

“We were excited to partner with the founders of Iodine back in 2018 as their first institutional investor, and are even more thrilled to partner with Advent and the Iodine team to support the next phase of growth,” said Jeff Crisan, Managing Partner at Silversmith Capital Partners. Yumin Choi, partner at Bain Capital Ventures, added, “We saw the enormous potential its AI-powered software would provide to hospitals going through digital transformations. With this strategic investment, Iodine will have the opportunity to reach more hospital professionals, resulting in better care for patients across the US.”

Over the past 30+ years, Advent has invested or committed more than $11 billion in 88 technology companies and $10 billion in 51 healthcare companies, including health tech, software and provider businesses.

Deutsche Bank served as exclusive financial advisor to Iodine and Queen Saenz + Schutz PLLC served as the Company’s legal advisors. For Advent, Evercore and TripleTree served as financial advisors and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel.

About Iodine Software

Iodine is an enterprise AI company that is championing a radical rethink of how to create value for healthcare professionals, leaders, and their organizations: automating complex clinical tasks, generating insights and empowering intelligent care. Iodine’s powerful predictive engine complements the skills and judgement of healthcare professionals by interpreting raw clinical data to generate real-time, highly focused, predictive insights that clinicians and hospital administrators can leverage to dramatically augment the management of care delivery – facilitating critical decisions, scaling clinical workforces through automation, and improving the financial position of health systems. For more information, please visit iodinesoftware.com.

About Advent International

Founded in 1984, Advent International is one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. The firm has invested in over 380 companies in 42 countries, and as of June 30, 2021, had $81 billion in assets under management. With 15 offices in 12 countries, Advent has established a globally integrated team of over 245 investment professionals across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on investments in five core sectors, including business and financial services; healthcare; industrial; retail, consumer and leisure; and technology. After more than 35 years dedicated to international investing, Advent remains committed to partnering with management teams to deliver sustained revenue and earnings growth for its portfolio companies. For more information, visit www.adventinternational.com or www.linkedin.com/company/advent-international.

About Bain Capital Ventures

Bain Capital Ventures partners with disruptive founders to accelerate their ideas to market. BCV invests from seed to growth in startups driving transformation across industries, from SaaS, infrastructure software and security to fintech and healthcare to commerce and consumer tech. The firm has helped launch and commercialize more than 365 companies, including Attentive, Digital Currency Group, DocuSign, Flywire, Jet.com, LinkedIn, Redis Labs, Rent the Runway, SendGrid, and SurveyMonkey. BCV has $9.2 billion in assets under management with offices in San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Palo Alto. Follow the firm via LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Silversmith Capital Partners

Founded in 2015, Silversmith Capital Partners is a Boston-based growth equity firm with $2.0 billion of capital under management. Silversmith’s mission is to partner with and support the best entrepreneurs in growing, profitable technology and healthcare companies. Representative investments include ActiveCampaign, Appfire, Centauri Health Solutions, DistroKid, Impact, Iodine Software, LifeStance Health, Panalgo, Unily, Upperline Health, Validity, and Webflow. The partners have served on the boards of numerous successful growth companies including ABILITY Network, Archer Technologies, Dealer.com, Liazon, Liberty Dialysis, MedHOK, Passport Health, SurveyMonkey, and Wrike. For more information about Silversmith, please visit www.silversmith.com.

Categories: News

Tags:

HARRISON.AI RAISES AUD$129 MILLION AND PARTNERS WITH SONIC HEALTHCARE TO DEVELOP PATHOLOGY AI, ACCELERATING ITS MISSION TO EXPAND CAPACITY OF GLOBAL HEALTHCARE

Horizons Ventures

$129 million funding raised from global venture firms and strategic investors including Horizons Ventures, I-MED Radiology and Sonic Healthcare in one of Australia’s largest Series B funding rounds ever

New pathology Joint Venture combines Harrison.ai’s expertise in clinical artificial intelligence with Sonic Healthcare’s clinical expertise and network

SYDNEY, 1 DECEMBER 2021 — Harrison.ai, the breakthrough healthcare AI company, today announced it has raised AU$129 million (USD$97 million) in one of Australia’s largest-ever Series B funding rounds. The funding will go to helping Harrison.ai expand on its mission to scale critical capacity in the global healthcare system through rapid commercialisation of comprehensive clinical AI applications.

The Series B funding round, led by existing investor Horizons Ventures, featured new equity investment from Sonic Healthcare and I-MED Radiology Network, alongside existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Skip Capital. It brings the total raised by Harrison.ai within the past two years to AU$158 million (USD$118 million).

Harrison.ai also announced a new partnership with Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL), a leader in medical diagnostics, to co-develop and commercialise new clinical AI solutions in pathology. The Joint Venture will culminate in new AI applications to improve efficiency and efficacy of pathology diagnosis with AI support.

New funding to help push Harrison.ai’s proven healthcare AI model to the global stage

Harrison.ai will use the new capital to rapidly expand its team of AI data scientists and engineers, while expanding into new areas of healthcare with global clinical partners. The combination of global investors like Horizons Ventures with strategic clinical investors will enable Harrison.ai to expand globally while leveraging medical expertise and reach.

Capacity in many areas of clinical diagnosis and treatment are under strain due to ongoing increases in healthcare demand contrasted with skills shortages and pandemic- related backlogs in clinical demand. Developed healthcare systems such as the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) face massive shortages in skilled radiologists and clinicians, with significantly more staff required to meet surging demand for diagnosis. Despite this shortage, there is a stark disparity to other markets — the US has approximately 11 radiologists per 100,000 people compared to just 0.35 radiologists per 100,000 people in Kenya.

This increased demand for equitable, accurate and effective healthcare delivery requires complementary systems like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide human-aided diagnosis and help relieve some of this disparity.

Harrison.ai and its partners have pioneered a unique and proven model to rapidly develop, commercialise and deploy accurate and clinically effective AI tools that support clinical diagnosis in a range of medical areas. It has developed deep artificial intelligence expertise and methodology that, when combined with the clinical expertise and data of medical partners, significantly shortens the path to market for new healthcare AI applications.

Harrison.ai and I-MED Radiology partnered to form Annalise.ai in early 2020 to develop comprehensive solutions across radiology modalities. Annalise.ai’s first product, the world’s most comprehensive AI clinical decision-support solution for Chest X-Rays, is already in more than 350 radiologists each day in Australia and rolling out to hundreds more. The partnership saw Annalise.ai co-research, develop and commercialise the solution within 18 months. The solution, which is capable of detecting 124 findings, was recently featured in peer-reviewed publication the Lancet Digital Health journal.

Dr Aengus Tran, Co-Founder and CEO of Harrison.ai, said: “Delivering equitable, effective and accurate healthcare to more people is a critical part of our mission at Harrison.ai, and as we emerge from the pandemic that mission is more important than ever. With our model and methodology now proven across multiple clinical areas, we are in a position to expand to new clinical areas and deliver on our mission with the support of our investors and partners.”

Chris Liu from Horizons Ventures, said: “Harrison.ai‘s distinct approach to AI healthcare has enabled the team to commercialise market leading solutions at record pace with its partners. We look forward to working closely with the team and our partners to help augment the capacity of healthcare systems globally.”

New Sonic Healthcare Joint Venture provides new opportunities in pathology

The new partnership with Sonic Healthcare marks the next stage on the mission to deliver equitable healthcare. It will combine Harrison.ai’s depth of expertise with Sonic Healthcare’s clinical experience and distribution to commercialise an effective and accurate AI solution in pathology rapidly.

Globally, pathology faces an even more stark skills shortage, with the number of US pathologists decreasing 18% between 2007 and 2017 despite an increase in workload. Building comprehensive AI solutions for pathology will help scale the capacity of diagnostic care across the globe.

“Sonic Healthcare’s deep clinical experience and understanding combined with our proven AI methodologies will create a powerful new way to support clinicians to more effectively and efficiently diagnose patients in pathology,” Dr Tran said.

Dr Colin Goldschmidt, CEO of Sonic Healthcare, said: “The formation of a joint venture with Harrison.ai is an exciting moment in Sonic Healthcare’s progression as a healthcare company. Harrison.ai is a smart, agile, and medically led company with a proven track record in the healthcare AI space. The partnership with Sonic and our deep healthcare experience and global reach represents a synergistic union and a powerful force in healthcare AI.”

Media contact

Jacqueline Rutledge
Sling & Stone for Harrison.ai
+61 402 266 163
jacquelinerutledge@slingstone.com

About Harrison.ai

Harrison.ai is a clinician-led healthcare artificial intelligence (AI) company rapidly developing and deploying AI solutions to address persistent healthcare challenges. With a mission to make world-class healthcare available and affordable to all, Harrison.ai works closely with clinical partners to deliver clinical-grade AI software at scale.

Harrison.ai works with partners to develop and deploy AI healthcare solutions that impact 50,000 patients each month in Australia, Europe and other countries. These include working with Virtus Health Limited to develop AI in IVF, as well as I-MED on Annalise CXR, the world’s most comprehensive AI clinical decision- support solution for chest X-rays. In July 2021, a Annalise CXR validation study published in the Lancet Digital Health found the AI model was capable of identifying 124 findings on chest x-rays to support and improve radiologist findings.

About Horizons Ventures

Horizons Ventures was co-founded by Solina Chau and Debbie Chang in 2005. It is known for backing era-defining companies making lasting and positive impact in the world. Amongst its string of notable early stage investments are Zoom, Impossible Foods, Perfect Day, Spotify, Siri and DeepMind, reflecting Horizons Ventures’ methodical long-term investment approach.

Categories: News

Tags:

Power Semiconductor Innovator GaN Systems Announces $150 Million in Growth Capital Funding

Chrysalix

GaN Systems, the global leader in GaN (gallium nitride) power semiconductors, announced a US $150 million growth capital funding round to accelerate innovation and adoption of GaN technology across its automotive, consumer, industrial, and enterprise markets. Fidelity Management & Research LLC led the fundraising round.

Fidelity is joined by strategic investors, including Vitesco Technologies, a leading international developer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art powertrain technologies for sustainable mobility. Existing investor BMW i Ventures, joins Fidelity, Vitesco Technologies, and existing investors in the financing. GaN Systems will use the investment to fuel the rapid market penetration of GaN as global power electronics companies shift from legacy silicon devices to unlock the value of small, low-cost, efficient power systems.

Vitesco Technologies is the lead strategic partner in the round and has announced a broad strategic partnership with GaN Systems to enable GaN solutions across the EV platform. The strategic partnership comes on the heels of GaN Systems’ recent announcement of a capacity agreement with BMW.

“We share a successful track record in power electronics. By combining our automotive know-how with our partner’s GaN expertise, we will be able to reap the benefits of comprehensive wide-bandgap technology in the car,” said Thomas Stierle, Member of the Executive Board and head of Vitesco Technologies’ Electrification Technology business unit. “We are enthusiastic about our strategic partnership with GaN Systems to accelerate GaN adoption across our electrification solutions.”

Jim Witham, CEO of GaN Systems, said, “This transaction is a game-changer and comes at a perfect time. The demand for higher performing, more efficient power electronics is growing exponentially, and traditional silicon solutions cannot keep up. Gallium Nitride takes the baton from legacy silicon to enable smaller platforms to run cooler and use fewer materials. We stand apart from the competition as the only GaN power transistor company currently shipping to automotive, consumer, industrial, and data center customers. Our relationships with industry leaders and our $8 billion pipeline tell us that the GaN inflection is here, and the time is now to accelerate investment in the business.”

With more than 200 billion device field hours, global companies, including industry leaders like Dell, Samsung, HARMAN, Siemens, Signify, and Philips, rely on GaN Systems’ transistors to reduce levels of CO2 emissions and increase the utility and energy efficiency of their power systems. With just a small change in the electronics design, GaN Systems’ transistors empower design engineers to significantly decrease the size, weight, and power lost by 4x while reducing overall system costs.

Categories: News

Tags:

Blue Horizon appoints Manu Gupta to Board of Directors

Blue Horizon

Zurich, 1 December 2021 – Blue Horizon, a pure-play impact investor accelerating the transition to a new Sustainable Food System, welcomes Manu Gupta, a leader in US and European venture capital, to its Board of Directors.

The appointment of Manu Gupta to the Board of Directors further bolsters the leadership of Blue Horizon with additional strategic counsel from a leader in venture capital investment with a track record identifying early-stage opportunities primed for growth.

Manu joins a Board that has overseen the rapid expansion of Blue Horizon in the last 6 years since founding, on a mission to accelerate the global transition to a new sustainable food system while delivering outstanding returns for investors and the planet.

The news follows significant business developments of the asset manager which recently appointed a General Counsel, a new Partner as well as two Directors to the investment team. The investment team of 9 now consists of 67% women with 28 Blue Horizon employees worldwide. Manu brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Board of Directors at an inflection point of new investment opportunities in sustainable food and agriculture innovation, which Blue Horizon aims to capture amid increasing interest from institutional investors and multibillion-dollar funds in a sustainable future of food.

Manu has been investing in tech for more than 12 years across the US, Europe, and Asia. Today he is best known as founder of Blue Lion, a venture capital firm that invests in multi-stage technology companies. Manu is also a founding member and ex-Partner of Lakestar, one of Europe’s largest tech venture funds. His investments and board memberships include Opendoor (IPO), SoFI (IPO), Robinhood (IPO), Maker Studios (M&A), Pipe, Forward Health, Figure Tech, Taulia, Aetion Health, Builder.ai, Even Health, Vested Finance, Casafari, Omio, to name a few.

Manu was previously an Executive Director and Head of European Internet coverage at Goldman Sachs, working across both the London and San Francisco offices. He started his career as a Product Manager at Oracle and software coder at Sun Microsystems. Manu graduated with honors in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) from UC Berkeley and has an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has lived in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Zurich and London.

Bjoern Witte, Managing Partner & CEO of Blue Horizon, said: “We are very excited to announce that Manu has joined the Board of Directors as we continue to grow Blue Horizon’s deep bench of talent, drawing expertise from across disciplines that include venture capital, technology, and scientific research to cement our position as the leader in the transition to a new Sustainable Food System. As a well-renowned venture capitalist, Manu brings an invaluable perspective grounded in more than a decade of personal experience investing in early stage start-ups that have gone on to become global technology leaders which gives us another unique advantage to create value for investors and a sustainable future of food.

”Manu Gupta, Member of the Board of Directors at Blue Horizon, said:“Blue Horizon invests at the forefront of an industry that will change the way all of us think about food. I am delighted to join such a high calibre board and actively help shape the bright future of this young company. Blue Horizon offers the possibility to participate in a market opportunity that offers outstanding returns for investors and the planet and I am very much looking forward to being an active part of this ecosystem.”

To date, Blue Horizon has raised funds of over $850 million and invested in 50+ companies with a focus on protein alternatives and food tech. Some of the firm’s most recent investments include Planted, an alternative protein start-up, Mosa Meat, which is developing tissue engineering technologies to mass produce affordable, cultured meat and dairy formulation and AgBiome, the leader in developing innovative products from the Earth’s microbial communities.

Media Release Blue Horizon appoints Manu Gupta to Board of Directors (PDF)

Categories: People

Clearlake Capital And Aurora Capital Backed Zywave Acquires ClarionDoor, Further Advancing Transformation Of The Insurance Market & Leadership Position In End-to-end Configure, Price, Quote Technology

Aurora Capital

MILWAUKEE, Nov. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Insurtech leader, Zywave, today announced the acquisition of Santa Barbara, Calif.-based ClarionDoor, provider of the most intelligent insurance product distribution software available to the property and casualty (P&C) market. Together with Zywave’s existing configure, price, quote (CPQ) solutions for insurance agencies and brokers, ClarionDoor’s digital distribution solution for carriers and MGAs solidifies Zywave as the industry leader in end-to-end CPQ technology, from rating and quoting through presentation to binding and issuance.

“Digital quoting is one of the fastest growing categories within the insurance industry,” said Jason Liu, chief executive officer of Zywave. “Zywave has doubled down in this space, becoming the first insurtech provider to offer CPQ solutions across all lines of business. With the acquisition of ClarionDoor, we also gain an exclusive distribution technology for carriers.”

Founded in 2010, ClarionDoor serves more than 70 customers globally across all P&C lines, ranging from traditional lines to emerging markets. ClarionDoor’s mature insurtech solutions provide one of the first ever cloud-native, API-first, no-code, software as a service rating engines. Serving carriers, MGAs, brokers, and program administrators, ClarionDoor solves the challenges of the entire product distribution process from product innovation to policy generation, issuance and lifecycle management.

“The distribution space has seen increasingly significant changes driving growth as digital innovation is adopted. Astute carriers are becoming more adept at evaluating distributors and integrating with agency management systems, comparative raters and stand-alone rating engines to help drive the next evolution of digital products and distribution strategies,” commented Karlyn Carnahan, Head, North America Property Casualty for leading research and advisory firm, Celent. “The acquisition of ClarionDoor by Zywave puts them front and center in the digital distribution space with an opportunity to better connect carriers and distributors.”

“For far too long, typical insurance systems focused entirely on the back office and neglected the insurer’s needs of developing innovative products and getting them out to the marketplace,” said Michael DeGusta, ClarionDoor’s chief executive officer. “What makes this partnership so exciting for ClarionDoor and our customers is that ClarionDoor and Zywave share a more open, collaborative and tech-enabled vision for insurance distribution. Together, we will fundamentally transform the way insurance organizations do business.”

The ClarionDoor acquisition is the latest in a series of several by Zywave over the last few years that demonstrate the company’s investment in the insurance distribution, quoting and proposal process. Previous acquisitions in this space include IBQ Systems (2021), Insurance Technologies Corporation (2020), RateFactory (2019), and Code SixFour (2018).

For more information on Zywave, visit www.Zywave.com.

About ClarionDoor

ClarionDoor is the provider of the most intelligent insurance product distribution software for rating, quoting, and issuance with a multitude of customers live today across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. ClarionDoor’s breakthrough API-first, cloud-native technology enables MGAs, brokers, carriers, program administrators, and wholesalers to rate, quote, and issue for any line of business; getting them live in weeks, and liberating them to focus on innovation, not implementation. To learn more, visit www.clariondoor.com.

About Zywave

Zywave leads the insurtech industry, fueling business growth for its partners with cloud-based sales management, client delivery, content and analytics solutions. Zywave’s all-in-one platform provides customizable, user-friendly options that enable insurance professionals to build a unique solution to fit their specific growth goals—their own Modern RevOps Machine. More than 15,000 carriers, agencies and brokerages worldwide—including all of the top 100 U.S. insurance brokerages—use Zywave solutions to enhance client services, achieve business growth and promote greater health, wellness, risk management and safety. Additional information can be found at www.zywave.com.

Contact: April Larsen
april.larsen@zywave.com
414-918-0547

SOURCE Zywave

Related Links

Home

Categories: News

Tags:

Atlantic Power Transmission LLC, a Blackstone Infrastructure Partners Portfolio Company, Announces Bid for New Jersey Offshore Wind Transmission Project

No Comments
Blackstone

  • Project supported by New Jersey Union coalition including Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, Operating Engineers Locals 825 and 25 and Iron Workers Local 399
  • Project expected to provide over 1,000 jobs and $1.3 billion to the New Jersey economy
  • Project designed to strengthen New Jersey’s clean energy targets and to minimize impact to local communities and environment
  • Project backed by Blackstone, a proven long-term investor and operator in infrastructure, transmission and renewable energy

Princeton, New Jersey – December 1, 2021 – Atlantic Power Transmission LLC (“APT”), a Blackstone (NYSE: BX) portfolio company, announced its bid to develop a clean power transmission solution in response to the 2021 New Jersey Offshore Wind SAA Transmission Solicitation initiated by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, in collaboration with PJM Interconnection. APT’s project offers a total offshore wind transmission solution of up to 3,600 MW and is expected to provide over $1.3 billion in economic value to the New Jersey economy. The project is expected to deliver clean offshore wind power to over 1.5 million New Jersey families, enabled by an underground clean energy corridor connecting to an existing substation in Central New Jersey.

APT has prioritized union labor and has partnered with the New Jersey union coalition, including Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 825 and 25 and Iron Workers Local 399, which will bring the region’s best-skilled and trained tradespersons to this state-of-the-art project and ensure that trades unions are a bedrock of New Jersey’s clean energy program.

Commenting on the announcement, Global Head of Infrastructure at Blackstone, Sean Klimczak said, “We are excited to support New Jersey’s offshore wind efforts and are proud to partner with the New Jersey union coalition. Blackstone Infrastructure has a proven track record and commitment to long-term partnerships, and we look forward to continuing with this transformative and innovative clean energy development project.”

William C. Sproule, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters said, “New Jersey is uniquely positioned as a hub for offshore wind, and we are pleased that our skilled tradespersons are at the forefront of this exciting movement to bring greater energy sustainability to our State.”

“We applaud Atlantic Power Transmission’s commitment to the Operating Engineers as they embark on the monumental task of bringing homegrown renewable energy to our electrical grid,” commented Greg Lalevee, Business Manager of IUOE 825.  “Our union is proud to be part of building a clean energy future in the state of New Jersey.”

Richard Sweeney, President and Business Manager of the Iron Workers Local 399, also stated, “We are proud to partner with Blackstone Infrastructure and Atlantic Power Transmission on ensuring good paying union jobs for years to come in this important and growing sector of our economy.”

The entire route of the project will utilize underground electric transmission lines to minimize its social and environmental impacts. The project enters onshore at an existing industrial site and aims to avoid disrupting New Jersey’s beachfront communities.

Andy Geissbuehler, APT’s CEO, stated, “We highly value our union partnership and our collaboration with the communities along the clean energy corridor. We are committed and able to manage the risks to safely and reliably construct and operate a compelling transmission solution to support New Jersey’s clean energy leadership.”

Blackstone is committed to supporting renewable energy and working closely with its union partners.  Since 2019, Blackstone has committed nearly $10 billion in investments that it believes are consistent with the broader energy transition.

In September 2021, Blackstone announced that the Champlain Hudson Power Express (“CHPE”), an underground electric transmission line spanning 339 miles between Canada and New York City, was selected by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority as part of an extensive RFP process to deliver 1,250 MW of clean, renewable power to New York City. CHPE is expected to create 1,400 jobs, with a commitment to use union labor, and includes a $40 million new Green Economy Fund that will provide job training for clean energy jobs.

In November 2021, Blackstone portfolio companies, Altus Power, a leading clean electrification company, and Link Logistics, operator of the largest portfolio of strategic last mile locations in the US, were awarded approximately 35 MW of community solar projects in New Jersey. Together, Altus and Link will build and operate a portfolio of rooftop community solar projects to serve approximately 10,000 residential customers throughout New Jersey with renewable energy.

About Blackstone

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $731 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Blackstone Infrastructure Partners

Blackstone Infrastructure Partners is an active investor across energy, transportation, digital infrastructure and water and waste infrastructure sectors. We seek to apply a long-term buy-and-hold strategy to large-scale infrastructure assets with a focus on delivering stable, long-term capital appreciation together with a predictable annual cash flow yield. Our approach to infrastructure investing is one that focuses on responsible stewardship and stakeholder engagement to create value for our investors and the communities we serve.

Atlantic Power Transmission LLC (“APT”)

APT is a Blackstone Infrastructure Partners Portfolio Company, headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey and is dedicated to developing, constructing and operating planned transmission systems along the US East Coast to enable efficient interconnection of commercial scale offshore wind facilities.

Contact

Paula Chirhart
Paula.Chirhart@Blackstone.com
347-463-5453

Categories: News

Tags:

Blackstone to Acquire Irth Solutions, a Leading Software Services Provider

Blackstone

NEW YORK & Columbus, Ohio – December 1, 2021 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) announced today that Blackstone Energy Partners has agreed to acquire Irth Solutions (“Irth”). Irth is a leading provider of cloud-based software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) solutions that automate processes for damage prevention and asset protection across critical network infrastructure assets. Additionally, Irth collects and analyzes operational and environmental data and runs risk management analytics for its blue-chip customer base across the energy, utilities, telecom and media end-markets. Its products and services support electric grid resiliency, electric vehicle penetration, 5G infrastructure build-out, emissions reduction efforts and help improve the safety and efficiency of pipeline operations. The acquisition of Irth continues Blackstone Energy Partners’ focus on investing in companies that support critical infrastructure and the global energy transition.

Kush Patel, Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Irth is well-positioned to benefit from the tailwinds impacting each of the company’s end-markets. Irth can be a key partner for electric utilities, telecom companies and energy infrastructure operators as they improve and expand operations, while reducing environmental impacts. We look forward to working with Brad and his team to capitalize on these trends.”

Brad Gammons, CEO of Irth Solutions, said: “The entire team is thrilled to have the support of Blackstone and their resources. We believe their expertise in infrastructure, energy services, data science and technology will be invaluable as we increasingly look to scale and strengthen our services and capabilities.”

Bilal Khan, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “Irth is the latest in a series of investments we’ve made in companies helping to strengthen our electrical grid and enable more sustainable operations – critical elements of the energy transition.”

Following the acquisition, Irth Solutions will retain its name and continue to operate independently as a Blackstone portfolio company. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of December. Lazard and Lincoln International acted as financial advisors to Irth, and Ropes & Gray acted as the company’s legal advisor. Kirkland & Ellis served as legal advisor to Blackstone.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Blackstone Energy Partners
Blackstone Energy Partners is Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business, a leading energy investor with a successful long-term record, having invested over $20 billion of equity globally across a broad range of sectors within the energy industry. Our investment philosophy is based on backing exceptional management teams with flexible capital to provide solutions that help energy companies grow and improve performance, thereby delivering cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy to meet the needs of the global community. In the process, we build stronger, larger scale enterprises, create jobs and generate lasting value for our investors, employees and all stakeholders.

About Irth Solutions
Irth Solutions, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, is the leading provider of cloud-based asset protection solutions to improve resilience of critical asset infrastructure, including their flagship 811 ticket management solution. Clients have trusted Irth Solutions for decades to manage and reduce risk, decrease costs, increase revenue opportunities and ensure regulatory compliance. Artificial intelligence and analytics power additional insights for early detection of emerging problems. Irth Solutions has helped hundreds of customers execute the work that is most important to their success in a world where safety, resilience and reliability are paramount.

Contact
Kate Holderness
Kate.holderness@blackstone.com
917 318 6818

Categories: News

Tags: