Category Archives: News

Blackstone Prices $900 Million Senior Notes Offering

Blackstone

New York, September 22, 2020 – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) priced its offering of $500 million of 1.600% senior notes due 2031 and $400 million of 2.800% senior notes due 2050 of Blackstone Holdings Finance Co. L.L.C., its indirect subsidiary. The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by The Blackstone Group Inc. and its indirect subsidiaries, Blackstone Holdings I L.P., Blackstone Holdings AI L.P., Blackstone Holdings II L.P., Blackstone Holdings III L.P. and Blackstone Holdings IV L.P.  Blackstone intends to use the proceeds from the notes offering for general corporate purposes.

The notes were offered and sold to qualified institutional buyers in the United States pursuant to Rule 144A and outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933.

The notes have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933 or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state laws.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase the notes or any other securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.  This press release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the Securities Act of 1933.

Investor and Media Relations Contacts

Weston Tucker
Blackstone
Tel: +1 (212) 583-5231
tucker@blackstone.com

Matthew Anderson
Blackstone
Tel: +1 (212) 390-2472
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com

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NextCapital Receives $30 Million Growth Investment Led by Francisco Partners

Franciso Partners

Press Release – September 22 2020

Investments from FP Credit, Oak HC/FT and IA Capital Group to advance retirement income capabilities and growth partnerships

CHICAGO — NextCapital, the leader in enterprise digital advice, today announced $30 million in growth financing, bringing the company’s total funding to $85 million. The financing was led by FP Credit, the credit investment arm of Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm. Oak HC/FT and IA Capital Group also participated in the capital raise.

NextCapital enables its commercial partners to rapidly bring to market a cost-effective, full-stack digital advice solution that is built to support the demanding requirements of large enterprises. The company enables scalable financial planning, advice, and managed accounts across leading financial institutions.

“This funding advances our mission to help everyone retire successfully,” said NextCapital Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder John Patterson. “Our partners are equally essential to the success of this mission, so we are excited to use this funding to further invest in our Partner Success program. This capital raise also allows us to extend our best-in-class workplace and rollover managed advice platform, as well as expand our retirement income offering.”

“NextCapital is at the forefront of the digital transformation sweeping the $8 trillion defined contribution market,” said Peter Christodoulo, partner at Francisco Partners. “Especially in the current economic climate, there is an urgent need to give Americans institutional-grade advice both in the accumulation phase for younger workplace savers and during the decumulation phase for older investors.”

NextCapital’s multi-channel solution supports defined contribution, IRA rollover, and retail accounts. Other key configuration features include:

  • Custom user experience and ongoing engagement
  • Configurable investment methodologies and advisory roles
  • Self-service and advisor-assisted service models
  • Plan advisor enablement
  • Integrations with 401(k) recordkeeping systems and retail custodians

“NextCapital is unique among its competitors in their ability to work with all firms in the retirement ecosystem, from large asset managers to recordkeepers to large advisory firms. NextCapital can build completely customized managed advice solutions for their partners that fulfill each institution’s unique requirements,” said Alois Pirker, research director for Aite Group‘s wealth management practice. “NextCapital’s platform addresses the needs of enterprise partners across the entire retirement landscape.”

Francisco Partners was advised by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as its legal advisor.

About NextCapital Group

NextCapital is an enterprise digital advice company whose mission is to help everyone retire successfully. NextCapital partners with financial institutions to deliver personalized planning and managed accounts to individual investors across multiple channels, including 401(k), IRA, and taxable brokerage accounts. NextCapital’s open-architecture digital advice solution provides integrated account aggregation, analytics, planning and portfolio management, and allows partners to customize advice methodology and fiduciary roles.

“NextCapital” is a brand name representing NextCapital Group, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, NextCapital Software, Inc. and NextCapital Advisers, Inc. NextCapital Advisers, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). NextCapital Software, Inc. is not registered with the SEC and does not provide investment advice.

About Francisco Partners

Francisco Partners is a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch 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.

About Oak HC/FT

Founded in 2014, Oak HC/FT is the premier venture growth-equity fund investing in Healthcare Information & Services (“HC”) and Financial Services Technology (“FT”). With $1.9 billion in assets under management, we are focused on driving transformation in these industries by providing entrepreneurs and companies with strategic counsel, board-level participation, business plan execution and access to our extensive network of industry leaders. Oak HC/FT is headquartered in Greenwich, CT, with offices in Boston and San Francisco. Follow Oak HC/FT on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium.

About IA Capital Group

Founded in 1992, IA Capital Group Inc. (previously Inter-Atlantic Group) is based in New York City and manages venture capital funds under the Inter-Atlantic name. The firm has a 20 year track record in insurtech and fintech venture capital, the longest of any insurtech-focused venture capital firm. Its fully-exited first fund, Inter-Atlantic Fund LP, had three portfolio company IPOs and ranks as the number one performing fund in several databases among comparable funds of its vintage. IA Capital currently makes strategic venture capital investments on behalf of 15 insurance companies.

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KKR to Invest ₹ 5,550 Crore in Reliance Retail Ventures

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KKR

KKR’s Second Investment With Reliance Industries Fuels Growth of India’s Fastest Growing Retail Business and Its Transformational New Commerce Model

MUMBAI, India–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Reliance Industries Limited (“Reliance Industries”) and Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (“RRVL”) announced today that global investment firm KKR will invest ₹ 5,550 crore into RRVL, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. This investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of ₹ 4.21 lakh crore. KKR’s investment will translate into a 1.28% equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis.

This marks the second investment by KKR in a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, following a ₹ 11,367 crore investment in Jio Platforms announced earlier this year.

Reliance Retail Limited, a subsidiary of RRVL, operates India’s largest, fastest growing and most profitable retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls across its ~12,000 stores nationwide. Reliance Retail’s vision is to galvanize the Indian retail sector through an inclusive strategy serving millions of customers by empowering millions of farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and working closely with global and domestic companies as a preferred partner, to deliver immense benefits to Indian society, while protecting and generating employment for millions of Indians. Reliance Retail, through its New Commerce strategy, has started a transformational digitalization of small and unorganised merchants and is committed to expanding the network to over 20 million of these merchants. This will enable the merchants to use technology tools and an efficient supply chain infrastructure to deliver a superior value proposition to their own customers.

Founded in 1976, KKR has $222 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2020 and a long history of building leading global enterprises, including many companies at the forefront of technology and digital transformation including in areas of consumer retail and eCommerce, such as investments in Epic Games, OutSystems, Internet Brands, Go-jek and Voyager Innovations. KKR established its first of eight Asia offices in 2005 and the firm currently has approximately $5.1 billion in private equity investments across more than 15 Indian companies, including Jio Platforms, JB Chemicals, Max Healthcare, Eurokids International and Ramky Enviro Engineers.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said, “I am pleased to welcome KKR as an investor in Reliance Retail Ventures as we continue our onward march to growing and transforming the Indian Retail ecosystem for the benefit of all Indians. KKR has a proven track record of being a valuable partner to industry-leading franchises and has been committed to India for many years. We look forward to working with KKR’s global platform, industry knowledge and operational expertise across our digital services and retail businesses.”

Henry Kravis, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of KKR, said, “We are pleased to deepen our relationship with Reliance Industries through this investment in Reliance Retail Ventures, which is empowering merchants of all sizes and fundamentally changing the retail experience for Indian consumers. Reliance Retail’s new commerce platform is filling an important need for both consumers and small businesses as more Indian consumers move to shopping online and the company offers tools for Kiranas to be a critical part of the value chain. We are thrilled to support Reliance Retail in its mission to become India’s leading omnichannel retailer and ultimately to build a more inclusive Indian retail economy.”

KKR is making its investment from its Asia private equity funds. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Retail and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP acted as financial advisor to KKR. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to KKR.

About Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)

RIL is India’s largest private sector company, with a consolidated turnover of INR 659,205 crore ($87.1 billion), cash profit of INR 71,446 crore ($9.4 billion), and net profit of INR 39,880 crore ($5.3 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2020.

RIL’s activities span hydrocarbon exploration and production, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals, retail and digital services. RIL is the top-most ranked company from India to feature in Fortune’s Global 500 list of ‘World’s Largest Companies’ – currently ranking 96th. The company stands 71st in the ‘Forbes Global 2000’ rankings for 2019 – top-most among Indian companies. It ranks 10th among LinkedIn’s ‘The Best Companies to Work For In India’ (2019).

About Reliance Retail Ventures Limited

Reliance Retail Ventures Limited is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, and holding company of all the retail companies under the RIL Group. RRVL reported a consolidated turnover of ₹ 162,936 crore ($ 21.7 billion) and net profit of ₹ 5,448 crore ($ 726.4 million) for the year ended March 31, 2020.

Reliance Retail topped the list of ‘50 fastest-growing retailers globally between FY2013-2018’ in the Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2020 index. Reliance Retail secured the 56th spot this year against the 94th rank the previous year and is the only Indian company to be featured in this list.

KKR Asia Pacific
Zita Setiawan
+65 8940-5835
Zita.Setiawan@secondee.kkr.com

David Katz
+65 6922-5872
David.Katz@kkr.com

KKR Americas
Kristi Huller, Cara Major or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
+1 212.750.8300
Media@KKR.com

Source: KKR

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3i invests in GartenHaus to build the leading European platform for home and garden projects

3I

3i Group plc (“3i Group”) announces that it has agreed to invest c. £60m for a majority stake in A-Z Gartenhaus GmbH (“GartenHaus”), an online leader in garden homes, sheds, saunas, and related products in the DACH region. As part of the transaction, GartenHaus’ management team and board will also invest to become shareholders in the business.

GartenHaus offers garden houses, sheds, carports, terraces, saunas and other, often bulky, garden and home related products with garden houses being its core product category. The company focuses on the high-quality, mid-to-upper priced segment of the market and differentiates itself through product development, excellent customer service and the management of complex logistics to deliver and assemble its products which weigh on average more than 1,000 kg.

GartenHaus, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, was founded in 2002 and is a pure eCommerce player. With the launch of its first online shop in 2009, GartenHaus has been the pioneer in selling garden homes directly to consumers. With around 75 employees, the company combines specialist trade product know-how with digital competence and offers a one-stop shop for customers, from planning to realisation and maintenance of garden and home projects.

The company benefits from direct interaction with its customers along the complete project journey with a high level of SEO website traffic as a result of its strong content. Driven by a further shift towards online and the increasing popularity of gardening and leisure trends, the relevant home and garden market is expected to grow by more than 10 percent per year going forward while online penetration is expected to double by 2025.

Peter Wirtz, Partner, 3i, commented: “For us, GartenHaus is a highly attractive investment opportunity. It is a niche market player with strong digital capabilities which is benefitting from the shift to online. We see GartenHaus as a nucleus to establish the online champion for home and garden projects across Europe. The key focus is to expand the product range into adjacent categories, as well as to internationalise the business by expanding into neighbouring countries such as the UK, France, Scandinavia and the Netherlands which have fragmented markets and similar product trends.”

Sebastian Arendt, CEO, GartenHaus added: “3i has a great reputation for helping its companies to grow internationally and we are excited to partner with its team at this point in our journey. The 3i team has a strong network, excellent digital capabilities and a strong track record in the consumer retail space, all of which will be of great benefit to GartenHaus.”

 

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Funds advised by Apax Partners sell their controlling shareholding in Neuraxpharm

Apax

22 September 2020

22 September, 2020 — Funds advised by Apax Partners (the “Apax Funds”) today announced that they have agreed to sell their controlling stake in Neuraxpharm, a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of central nervous system disorders (CNS), to funds advised by Permira. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

With a heritage dating back 35 years, Neuraxpharm focuses on improving the quality of life and mental wellbeing of patients affected by CNS disorders throughout Europe. Neuraxpharm has operations in 13 countries and covers 80% of the European CNS drug market today. The company has one of the most comprehensive product portfolios in CNS specialty pharmaceuticals in Europe, comprising more than 115 CNS molecules.

Drawing on Apax Partners’ deep knowledge of the healthcare sector, the Apax Funds saw the opportunity to create a European champion in CNS specialty pharmaceuticals and in 2016 they acquired Invent Farma in Spain and neuraxpharm Arzneimittel in Germany, creating the foundations of the pan-European Neuraxpharm group. Since then, and with the support of the Apax Funds, Neuraxpharm has experienced rapid international expansion both through greenfield operations and several acquisitions, transitioning from a local player to a leading pan-European specialty company that covers 80% of the European market.

Under the Apax Funds’ ownership, Neuraxpharm strengthened its management team under the leadership of Dr. Jörg-Thomas Dierks. The company grew rapidly both organically and inorganically, closing over 70 company and product acquisitions and in-licensing agreements. It also invested heavily in a robust product pipeline that broadened its CNS portfolio with unique value-added and high-tech medicines. Today Neuraxpharm has annual revenues in excess of €460 million and 850 employees.

The Apax Funds have a strong track record of investing in the Healthcare sector, having completed more than 80 investments over the last 30 years across multiple geographies, including the US, Europe and Asia. Recent transactions include the acquisition of InnovAge, Healthium, Candela, Kepro, Unilabs and Vyaire.

Arthur Brothag, Partner at Apax Partners, said: “It has been great to work with Jörg and the whole Neuraxpharm team over the past few years. We are proud to have helped them create and grow the business. Using our deep healthcare sector experience, we were able to support and build Neuraxpharm, leveraging the market opportunity that existed in the European specialty market. We always aimed to put the patient first and, in doing so, also created value for our investors.”  Steven Dyson, Partner at Apax Partners added: “Neuraxpharm is an excellent example of Apax Partners’ transformative ownership approach, focused on healthcare fundamentals and partnering with exceptional management teams. We thank Jörg and the team and wish them every success for the future in this new exciting chapter.”

Dr Jörg-Thomas Dierks, CEO of Neuraxpharm, said “I would like to thank the Neuraxpharm team for their hard work and dedication, focusing on providing critical medicines for chronic patients suffering from CNS disorders. Apax Partners has been an outstanding partner for Neuraxpharm’s management team over the last four years, as we have embarked on international expansion, invested in new differentiated products and grown the employee base. Apax’s deep industry knowledge and experience has been invaluable to us.”

Apax Partners was advised by Jefferies International Limited (M&A adviser), Linklaters (legal advisers) and PwC (financial and tax advisers). The transaction isexpected to close in Q4 2020, subject to regulatory approvals. 

END 

About Apax Partners

Apax Partners is a leading global private equity advisory firm. Over its more than 40-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of approximately $50 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Healthcare, Tech & Telco, Services, and Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For more information see:www.apax.com.

About Neuraxpharm 

Neuraxpharm is a leading European specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of central nervous system disorder (CNS) with a unique understanding of the European CNS market built over 35 years. More info: www.neuraxpharm.com.   

Apax Media Contacts 

Katarina Sallerfors | +44 207 872 6526 | katarina.sallerfors@apax.com

James Madsen / Matthew Goodman, Greenbrook | +44 20 7295 2000 | apax@greenbrookpr.com

Notes to Editors 

London-headquartered Apax Partners (www.apax.com), and Paris-headquartered Apax Partners (www.apax.fr) had a shared history but are separate, independent private equity firms.

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EQT Real Estate and Sigma Capital launch GBP 1 bn residential joint venture, set to bring 3,000 new rental homes to Greater London

eqt

  • EQT Real Estate and Sigma Capital launch joint venture to create a GBP 1 billion investment portfolio of 3,000 high-quality “build-to-rent” (“BTR”) residential homes at market rental rates in more affordable areas of Greater London
  • The joint venture constitutes EQT Real Estate’s first UK investment and combines its thematic focus on “beds and sheds” in European gateway cities with a social impact strategy underpinned by EQT’s industry-leading sustainability credentials
  • The joint venture launches having secured five sites from one of the UK’s premier homebuilders, Countryside Properties, and has agreed to purchase two additional BTR sites from Sigma Capital upon their completion
  • Initial financing provided by Homes England, the housing agency of the UK Government

EQT Real Estate today announced the launch of a joint venture (the “JV”) with Sigma Capital Group plc (“Sigma Capital” or “Sigma”), a London-listed residential development and urban regeneration specialist. The JV will focus on the creation of new-build, high-quality well-located BTR residential apartment blocks and houses in more affordable parts of Greater London and its commuter towns. The homes will be predominantly located in transport Zones 3-6 and in close proximity to transport links, including train access to central London.

Completed homes will be let at market-rate rents under Sigma’s ‘Simple Life London’ brand, which aims to bring a higher standard of customer care and convenience to the private rental market.  Sigma has pioneered BTR in the UK and to date has successfully delivered and manages in excess of 4,200 rental homes across the UK.

EQT Real Estate and Sigma have initially committed equity of GBP 300 million and GBP 16 million, respectively, to the JV. Including gearing, it is intended that the JV will have an initial capacity to establish an investment portfolio of approximately 3,000 homes with a total value in excess of GBP 1 billion. The JV has secured five projects with an aggregate of 361 homes from Countryside Properties plc (“Countryside Properties”) located in the London boroughs of Ealing, Enfield and Havering. In addition, two further sites currently under development by Sigma in the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Havering will be acquired by the JV on completion. These two sites together will comprise an additional 157 homes and are expected to be completed during H1 2021. The JV’s assets are expected to be delivered over a period of at least five years in order to create a stabilized portfolio of diversified rental income.

The initial acquisitions will be financed with a GBP 50 million loan facility from Homes England, the UK Government’s housing body that is responsible for increasing the number of new homes that are built in England and sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. EQT Real Estate, Sigma and Homes England share the same vision of delivering thousands of new rental homes in London where there is a critical undersupply of affordable, high-quality rental properties.

Consistent with other EQT Real Estate transactions, the JV will invest in buildings with strong sustainability credentials. Where possible, buildings will tap into local community heating networks and will utilize photovoltaic panels. The JV will also promote sustainable living practices within the apartments themselves, while the schemes will include ample cycle storage and will typically be located near green outdoor areas, an important wellness factor.

Peter Shacalis, Director at EQT Partners and Head of UK, EQT Real Estate, said: “EQT Real Estate is thrilled to be entering the London residential market, one with a severe supply shortage of professionally managed, high-quality, good value homes to rent, with Sigma Capital. In addition to the initial seven schemes, we are currently evaluating a growing pipeline of projects in Greater London to build a large scale, resilient and downside-protected institutional BTR portfolio with robust and diversified rental income. EQT Real Estate looks forward to partnering with the Sigma team to realise our shared vision over the coming years.”

Rob Rackind, Partner at EQT Partners and Head of EQT Real Estate, said: “This joint venture with Sigma Capital marks an exciting entrance into the UK for EQT Real Estate as it represents the first transaction in this market since the business line was established in 2015. I cannot think of a more compelling investment opportunity at the moment than to deploy capital into this high conviction strategy, and one that should deliver significant social impact, by providing market-rate housing to renters in affordable locations within Greater London and its commuter towns with strong transport links.”

Graham Barnet, CEO of Sigma Capital, said: “We are delighted to be expanding our delivery of new rental homes in the UK with the launch of our London-focused joint venture with EQT Real Estate, a strong and visionary partner. Homes England, which has supported Sigma with every major initiative to deliver the new housing that is much needed across the country, is also providing invaluable backing to the joint venture. Once again, Homes England is leading the market in its support for organizations looking to deliver homes at scale in the UK. We are also pleased to be working with Countryside Properties in Greater London to replicate the success of our partnership in the regions. We look forward to delivering thousands of high-quality new rental homes across the Capital with our partners at EQT Real Estate and providing London renters with a higher standard of customer care.”

Iain McPherson, Group Chief Executive, Countryside Properties, said: “We are delighted to have expanded our strategic relationship with Sigma and its new partner, EQT Real Estate, to deliver much-needed PRS homes within London.  Our Partnerships business has a proven track record, and, together with our clear strategy for growth, we look forward to continuing to work with our partners as we focus on the delivery of high quality and sustainable mixed-tenure communities.”

UK Housing Minister Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP said: “This Government is committed to delivering 300,000 new homes a year in England by the mid-2020s, ensuring everyone has the opportunity for a decent and secure place to call home.

“These 3,000 new homes, backed by £50 million from our housing accelerator Homes England, will help us deliver for families across Greater London.”

Simon Dudley, Interim Chair at Homes England, said: “We are excited to be strengthening our work with Sigma Capital. By supporting their joint venture with EQT Real Estate we are using our resources to accelerate the delivery of much needed high-quality rental accommodation and unlock substantial private sector investment in the housing sector.”

Taylor Wessing acted as legal advisor for EQT Real Estate.

Contacts

EQT
Peter Shacalis, Director at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Real Estate, +44 786 027 1392
Rob Rackind, Partner at EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT Real Estate, +44 786 027 1392
UK media enquiries: Greenbrook, eqt@greenbrookpr.com, +44 20 7952 2000
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

Sigma Capital Group
Graham Barnet, Chief Executive, +44 20 3178 6378
Mike McGill, Finance Director, +44 0333 999 9926
KTZ Communications, Katie Tzouliadis, +44 20 3178 6378

About EQT
EQT is a differentiated global investment organization with more than EUR 62 billion in raised capital and around EUR 40 billion in assets under management across 19 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America with total sales of more than EUR 27 billion and approximately 159,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

About EQT Real Estate
EQT Real Estate, part of EQT Partners and Investment Advisor to EQT managed real estate funds, seeks direct and indirect controlling interests in value-add real estate assets, portfolios, operating companies and platforms across gateway cities in the UK and Europe that offer significant potential for value creation through repositioning, redevelopment, refurbishment and active asset management. The EQT Real Estate Advisory Team comprises 26 experienced Investment Advisory Professionals working out of EQT’s offices in London, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Stockholm. The Investment Advisory Team, which has access to the full EQT network including 11 European offices and more than 500 EQT Advisors, has experience analyzing and investing across the pan-European real estate market and has, collectively, advised on over 130 real estate projects in multiple asset classes across Europe.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

Sigma has created an unrivalled property platform, which sources sites and brings together construction resource to develop them, enabling Sigma to deliver an integrated solution to partners. As well as sourcing sites and managing all stages of the planning and development process, Sigma also manages the rental of completed homes through its award-winning rental brand ‘Simple Life’. The Company’s subsidiary, Sigma PRS Management Limited, is Investment Adviser to The PRS REIT plc, the real estate investment trust that is investing £0.9bn in a portfolio of high-quality new rental homes for private rental across the regions.

More info: www.sigmacapital.co.uk

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AccelerComm secures £5.8m Series A funding from IQ Capital, Bloc Ventures and IP Group to Supercharge 5G Communications

IQ Capital

University of Southampton spinout to use funding to scale IP technology business that significantly reduces latency and increases spectral efficiency

Southampton, 21st September 2020: AccelerComm – the Southampton University spinout supercharging 5G, satellite and other wireless communications with IP which increases spectrum efficiency and reduces latency – has raised £5.8m in Series A funding in a round led by IQ Capital alongside existing investors Bloc Ventures and the IP Group. The funding will be used to expand the current team, drive US and global expansion, and develop the technology further as demand for the company’s cutting-edge digital signal processing IP grows among mobile operators, telecoms equipment vendors, satellite operators and connected device manufacturers.

Low latency and high spectrum efficiency are crucial in protecting cellular and other radio networks from insufficient capacity, low data rates, sparse coverage and poor quality-of-service. Despite the roll-out of early 5G networks these factors remain an issue that risk stifling new revenue opportunities for operators from services such as gaming or VR, industrial IoT, autonomous vehicles or drone control.

AccelerComm’s cutting-edge channel coding IP is used to correct transmission errors in mobile, small cell and satellite communications caused by noise, interference and poor signal strength. This technology is optimised for the specific needs of cellular and satellite communications to provide market leading performance and efficiency. The product suite includes a complete channel coding IP solution that delivers reduced latency and power consumption for the most critical component of a 5G system, whilst meeting all the throughput and error correction targets. The AccelerComm IP packages can be quickly integrated and flexibly delivered for use in custom silicon (ASIC), programmable hardware (FPGA) or as software solutions, covering all use cases within the current standards.

Founded by Professor Rob Maunder at the University of Southampton in 2016, AccelerComm has established itself as a leader in the field of channel coding, also known as forward error correction, and is already working with Intel, Xilinx and National Instruments. Driven by a leadership team comprising executives and senior talent from ARM, Qualcomm and Ericsson, the company was recently named in the EE Times Silicon 100: Emerging Startups to Watch and continues to push the state-of-the-art in channel coding technology.

Tom Cronk, CEO of AccelerComm said: “From gaming and VR to automated robotic manufacturing lines and telemedicine, the use cases on the road to 5G appear almost limitless. But a critical roadblock remains – latency. For more than 15 years a research team led by Prof. Maunder, first at the University of Southampton and now at AccelerComm, has been working to solve the challenge to deliver on the 5G promise of a low latency, high throughput experience. We are delighted to have closed our Series A funding round, which will help us further develop and deploy our already market leading technology to help improve the efficiency of networks for many years to come.”

Max Bautin, Managing Partner at IQ Capital commented “We are very excited that we have been able to partner with AccelerComm in this round of funding. Squeezing ever more data into limited radio spectrum at faster and faster speeds is a huge challenge facing the telecoms industry. Improving the efficiency and reliability of data transfer has become critical to many industries – not just in cellular networks and IoT but also satellites, drones, fixed wireless internet and anything else that uses radio waves. AccelerComm’s track record of selling to globally very sophisticated blue-chip customers and deep IP are very impressive. The amazing founding team combining cutting edge academic and industry knowledge with ex ARM DNA gives AccelerComm incredible growth potential.”

David Leftley, CTO and co-founder of Bloc Ventures and Lee Thornton, Investment Director at IP Group said “Bloc and IP Group are delighted to be partnering with Max and the IQ Capital team on taking AccelerComm to the next level of scale. We believe we have the makings of something very special in AccelerComm, something we have not seen in the UK since the early days of ARM”.

AccelerComm were advised through the funding process by Acuity Advisors, UK.

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Innovestor makes follow-on investment in Ruokaboksi, leading Finnish meal-kit delivery provider

Innovestor

With the growing trend of consumers moving their purchases to e-commerce sites, the online grocery market has grown rapidly. Although the Finnish market is still smaller compared to our Nordic neighbours, it is catching up fast. Within this segment, and particularly in covid-19 stricken times, subscription-based FoodTech platforms have experienced sharp increases in sales.

Ruokaboksi’s service is based on a weekly subscription meal box, which is delivered straight to the customers door and includes all the ingredients with dinner recipes needed for the week. The company has 3 different sized meal boxes to choose from, based on preferences for e.g. vegetarian or child-friendly recipes. Also the number of recipes can be altered.

By delivering ready-made meal boxes with all the ingredients needed to prepare dinner, the service eases everyday by eliminating the age-old question of ‘what to eat today’ and cuts down the hassle of supermarket trips. Especially in the current covid-19 climate, services such as Ruokaboksi’s allow customers to stay safe at home as much as possible.

The co-founding team lead by CEO Juhana Rintala came up with the idea and joined forces when they all had small children, and were looking for ways to handle the weekly food shopping in a stress-free way.

“We see that rapid growth is needed in this is the type of business. With Innovestor’s help we have been able to invest in marketing and sales, aspects needed for growth. During our first year of operation, our revenue was around 200–300k euro, in June it was around 3 million euro. By the end of this year, we forecast our revenue will hit close to 10 million euro. Our growth curve continues to be quite steep” stated Ruokaboksi’s CEO Juhana Rintala.

 

Ruokaboksi

Innovestor was lead investor in Ruokaboksi’s seed funding round in 2018. Since then the team has made great headway on their growth plans, resulting in us now making a follow-on investment during the summer of 2020. We were joined by the company’s previous investors, Korpi Capital and Reaktor Ventures, bringing the total funding round to 600k euro.

“The company has continued to execute strongly in a very interesting market, and we are glad support the company into their next growth phase” commented Innovestor’s Wilhelm Lindholm.

 

For more information: 

Juhana Rintala

CEO, Ruokaboksi

juhana.rintala(a)ruokaboksi.fi +358 45 2268320

 

Wilhelm Lindholm

Managing Partner, Innovestor Ltd.

wilhelm.lindholm(a)innovestor.fi +358 40 5811051

 

Ruokaboksi in the Media:

Koronakriisi mullisti ruoan verkkokaupan – myös ateriakassien myynti on moninkertaistunut: ”Meillä keräily ei ruuhkaudu”

Ruoan verkkokauppa ja kirjolohen kasvattaja pörssiin?– Katso pääomasijoittajien tuore lista 54 mahdollisesta pörssilistautujasta

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Scenic Biotech Enters into Genetic Modifier Collaboration with Genentech

Inkef Capital

  • Multi-year strategic collaboration in target discovery and therapeutic development based on Scenic Biotech’s disease modifying approach
  • Utilises Scenic’s unique Cell-Seq platform and its proprietary data warehouse of genetic modifiers
  • Scenic Biotech will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties across multiple products meeting certain pre-defined conditions

 

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 20, 2020 – Scenic Biotech BV (“Scenic”), a pioneer in the discovery of genetic modifiers to enable the development of disease modifying therapeutics for rare genetic disorders and other devastating illnesses, today announced that it has entered into a multi-year strategic collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to discover, develop and commercialize novel therapeutics that target genetic modifiers.

Genetic modifiers are genes that counteract the effect of a disease-causing gene. They may explain why some people with genetic mutations linked to severe disease end up having only mild or no symptoms. Also known as disease suppressors, genetic modifiers therefore positively influence the severity of disease and act as a ‘natural form of protection’. Their discovery is leading to a completely new class of drug targets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Scenic will utilize its Cell-Seq platform and its data warehouse of genetic modifiers to identify drug targets in multiple therapeutic areas. The collaboration enables Genentech to select multiple targets for further development with an option to extend the collaboration. Scenic will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive additional target selection fees for drug targets taken forward by Genentech. In addition, Scenic is eligible for success-based payments for each target based on achievement of certain predetermined milestones, as well as royalties on sales of certain products resulting from the collaboration. Total deal value could exceed US $375M.

Scenic has built an extensive proprietary data warehouse of genetic modifiers and its Cell-Seq platform enables the development of potential disease modifying therapeutics for devastating diseases with an in-house focus on inherited rare diseases and immuno-oncology/inflammation.

The Company was founded in 2017 as a spin-out of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, and Oxford University and recently appointed Oscar Izeboud, PhD as its Chief Executive Officer.

 

Dr Sebastian Nijman, Co-founder and CSO of Scenic Biotech said:

“Genentech is the pioneer in innovative biotech and has world leading research and development capabilities. Scenic is a science-driven company and having Genentech as our first major industry partner is a great validation of our technology and by working together it will extend the utility of our platform beyond our current therapeutic areas of interest. The collaboration also brings significant strategic value for Scenic as it enables us to realise the potential of our genetic modifier expertise alongside independently advancing our own programs towards clinical development.”

 

About Scenic Biotech

Scenic Biotech is focused on identifying genetic modifiers, a completely new class of disease targets, for drug intervention. Also known as disease suppressors, genetic modifiers are genes that act to suppress or completely block the effect of a disease-causing mutated gene.

As a pioneer in the field, Scenic Biotech is building the largest proprietary data warehouse of genetic modifiers and has already identified a number of novel genetic modifiers for over a dozen inherited diseases. This approach is enabling the development of disease modifying therapeutics for devastating diseases including inherited rare diseases and cancer.

Scenic Biotech is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Company was founded in 2017 as a spin-out of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, and Oxford University, backed by a Dutch-UK syndicate of Venture Capital investors that include BioGeneration Ventures, Inkef Capital, and Oxford Sciences Innovation.

Scenic Biotech refers to all companies within the Scenic group, comprising Scenic Holding BV and its two fully owned subsidiary companies: Scenic Immunology BV and Scenic Biotech BV.

For further information please visit: www.scenicbiotech.com

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Ionir Launches Cloud Native Storage and Data Platform for Kubernetes with $11M in Funding led by JVP

C5 Capital

ntroduces industry first solution for instant mobility of applications and data between clouds

Press Release provided by Ionir—

New York, NY. – September 21, 2020 –Ionir launched today its container native  software defined storage and data management platform, designed to support Kubernetes production workloads in private cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud deployments.  The Ionir enterprise software defined storage platform delivers  Data Teleport™, the industry’s first instant mobility capability for persistent volumes, that allows stateful applications to be copied or moved instantly between Kubernetes clusters. Ionir also announced $11 million in funding led by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) alongside C5 Capital.

The Ionir solution brings the same portability and mobility that customers get with containers and Kubernetes to data and persistent volumes. Based on the unique and proven technology developed by Reduxio, the Ionir’s platform eliminates the complexity of storage and data management for Kubernetes based clouds by allowing customers to build a seamless data layer and a common set of data management workflows independent of the underlying cloud or infrastructure.

“With Data Teleport, persistent volumes can be moved or copied between Kubernetes clusters and clouds in under 40 seconds independent of the size of the volume or the amount of data involved” said Jacob Cherian, CEO, Ionir. For example, in a production/development hybrid deployment, developers will no longer have to wait for hours or days for volumes to be copied to get access to the latest data. With instant mobility data can be refreshed in under a minute accelerating development processes and the delivery of new capabilities.”

The Ionir platform is the first microservices based software defined storage and data management solution for Kubernetes that allows the platform to be extended to support future interfaces and technologies without the need for fork-lift upgrades. The platform today provides the following capabilities:

  • Fully virtualized persistent volumes with no practical size limit
  • Data Teleport™ – Instantly copy or move volumes of any size across clouds
  • Instant clones for data and application recovery
  • Global deduplication and compression for efficiency at scale
  • Fault tolerant and highly available

 

“As a long standing investor in the cloud and infrastructure space, we have a track record of investing in companies that deliver the most innovative solution in the market to the world’s leading enterprises” said Fiona Darmon, General Partner, JVP and Ionir Board Member. “We are proud to lead this round in Ionir, leveraging the proven Reduxio technology, bringing about a new era of data democratization as organizations the world over will have the freedom to choose and move data freely between their cloud silos.”

Enterprise adoption of Kubernetes is increasing; but using legacy storage solutions and the lack of instant data mobility creates infrastructure silos and operational challenges in private cloud, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud deployments. Ionir’s platform and instant data mobility capability  allows enterprises to unify multiple infrastructure environments into a single data cloud with seamless mobility of applications and data.

“Ionir is disrupting the Kubernetes and cloud data storage market by helping organizations achieve seamless mobility for their applications and data” said Michael Wall, Chairman of Ionir, and a storage and IT infrastructure industry veteran. “This technology will redefine IT workflows and open up new possibilities for customers to maximize the return on their investments in multi-datacenter, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud strategies.”

For more information about Ionir, the company’s vision, and to request a demo of the product and Data Teleport™ please visit www.ionir.com

About Ionir

Ionir’s cloud native storage and data management platform for Kubernetes combines high performance software-defined container-native storage and data management with data mobility to enable customers to build a single data cloud for their applications across all their infrastructure, anywhere. Ionir is backed by leading international VC funds Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and C5 Capital, among others.  For more information, visit www.ionir.com Connect with Ionir on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

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