Syndicate Update

September 2, 2022 | Spannr Ventures

Dear Investors,

Before we kick off our first monthly review, we would like to make a quick comment on our Lever

aging

Longevity event, which was

supposed

(key point) to be hosted on October 7th in San Diego, California.

A week ago, we were looking forward to reaching out to our group of accredited investors (that’s you!) to hype up the upcoming event and talk about the advantages of being in that room.

But yesterday, unfortunately, we were left with the tough decision to cancel the event in somewhat of a last-minute fashion.   

Never a dull moment with startups, right?!

Anyway, that’s the

bad

news.

The

good

news – relating very much to this list – is that we received a TON of interest from startups and founders hoping to either present or become a sponsor.

No kidding… we were on the phone with almost a dozen companies, many of which have plans to raise money in the coming months. And while they were eager to attend, they were mostly excited to speak to us because of what we’re building here at Spannr Ventures.

Our take? Several of these companies simply want funding. They are aware that we’re actively sourcing deal flow and want to be the first ones in the lineup. 

Of course, we are doing extensive due diligence on all investment opportunities that we come across. So please know that when we do offer our first investment opportunity, it will only be after we’ve done extensive work. 

That said, as we continue to build relationships both with existing and new companies, we remain optimistic and bullish on this industry's future. 

Ok - enough of that. Now let’s get into some of the trends we’ve seen over the past couple of months.

Notes From August

Reminder: For those who have recently joined Spannr Ventures, this is something we’ll be doing near the end of each month going forward. Our goal is to keep investors informed on what we are seeing in the market as we prepare to bring opportunities to you.Soon, we will be sharing actual deal memos and investment opportunities, but for now we thought it might be helpful to share some key trends we are seeing in the market.

• Longevity companies continue to lean on developed drugs. Many companies we’ve talked to – some of which are still in stealth – are taking on a combo drug strategy. Apart from developing their own novel therapeutics, companies are diversifying their pipeline by combining previously developed and/or patented drugs that support their thesis. By leaning into already-approved or positive FDA results, they can significantly shorten their time to clinic and expedite results. Companies that have a diverse pathway, as opposed to those solely relying on one or two preclinical drug candidates, have a significant advantage. We are currently in diligence with two companies in this space. Stay tuned. 

• DisCo companies continue to grow. DisCo companies (or, multi-asset parent companies) continue to be an increasing occurrence as they combine their existing assets and resources to create a more diversified approach. Juvenescence and Life Biosciences are good examples of this. (Speaking of Juvenescence, they just increased their investment in LyGenesis)

• Cellular Reprogramming is gaining momentum. We continue to see many cellular reprogramming companies coming out of stealth and looking to raise capital. There is quite a span of applications (use cases) for cellular reprogramming which makes us think we will continue to see more companies launched (and looking for funding) in this space regardless of the fact that it is probably the most funded area of longevity right now. 

• Underfunded areas of the longevity market are seeing more deal flow. This includes companies focusing on extracellular matrix and aggregates solutions, cardiovascular prevention and damage repair, genetic medicines, and brain aging. Companies with the potential to be a trojan horse in such untapped markets will continue to be on our radar.

• Preclinical screening companies that are measuring changes in aging by monitoring various compounds in large groups of C. elegans are consistently launching. Positive results here can result in mice studies, and therefore (or, hopefully) humans. We have a previous investment in GeroState Alpha and continue to be in discussions with other companies in this space.

• Reputable universities and research labs are spinning out early-stage opportunities. Gerostate Alpha and Unity Biotechnology, for example, have spun out of the Buck Institute. Furthermore, Ora Biomedical recently spun out from the University of Washington School of Medicine. This will help drive funding from grants (government, non-profit, etc.) and also validate all the previous and existing work that has happened. This will likely set the stage for private funding to follow on, as projects are de-risked.

August Funding Roundup:

• Senda Biosciences announces close of $123 million Series C financing

• Remedium Bio announces successful $2.3 million expanded seed raise

• Love Health raises $7.5 million at a $180 million valuation

• Mable raises $3.2 million in seed round

• Vital raises $2.9 million seed round

• Insilico tops off recent $60 million Series D with another $35 million

• ApoptoSENS Project secures $253,000 in funding from VitaDAO

Best,Spannr VenturesP.S. Until our next monthly update, please fill out this survey if you'd like priority access to our deal flow.Many of our investment opportunities are fast moving and are extremely limited in terms of funding. For that reason, we will give priority to investors who are serious and able to act quickly.Again, the link to this survey can be found here.