 |
Sep. 21, 2005 – Two large nanotech-related private financings were announced on Tuesday. Molecular Imprints, a maker of nanoimprint lithography tools, announced it had raised $17 million in the first closing of what it plans to be a $25 million Series C round. Kereos, a developer of cancer therapy and imaging products using targeted nanoparticles, announced it had raised a $19.5 million Series B financing.
Harris & Harris Group (Nasdaq:TINY), a publicly-traded venture capital firm that specializes in nanotechnology, MEMS and microsystems companies, participated in both the Molecular Imprints and Kereos rounds.
Other participants in the Molecular Imprints round included Dai Nippon Printing Company, Alloy Ventures, Motorola Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Hakuto Co. Ltd., Asset Management Partners and other unnamed investors.
Molecular Imprints, based in Austin, Texas, builds nanoimprint tools for the semiconductor and electronics industries and has sold to chip and device makers in markets including semiconductor components, photonics, advanced packaging, data storage and MEMS/NEMS fabrication.
It previously raised a $30 million Series B round, half of which closed in December 2003 and half in April 2004. Initial funding was a $12 million Series A raised in two closings announced in 2002.
As for Kereos, new investors Prolog Ventures, Triathlon Medical Ventures and Charter Life Sciences led the round along with existing investor RiverVest Venture Partners. Existing investor Barnes-Jewish Hospital also participated. Additional new investors included Alafi Capital, Apjohn Ventures, Harris & Harris, Lux Capital, MB Venture Partners, Sigvion Capital and Vectis Life Science, as well as corporate investors Genentech and Royal Philips Electronics. The company raised an initial round of funding for an undisclosed amount in 2001.
Kereos, based in St. Louis, says the first two of its products are expected to enter clinical trials for solid tumors in 2006. It is working with Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging and Philips Medical Systems to develop its products for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other types of imaging systems.
– David Forman