White blood cells known B cells are known to be prodigious producers of particular kinds of proteins — antibodies.
Walking Fish Therapeutics Inc. is hoping to harness B cells' protein producing capacity to make ones that can be used to target particular ailments, including cancers and autoimmune diseases.
"We believe strongly in the power of B cell (treatments) in applications spanning oncology to protein deficiency diseases," Dr. Lewis "Rusty" Williams, the South San Francisco startup's CEO and co-founder, said in a news release.
The company landed a big Series A round that will help it continue to develop its B cell-based treatments, scoring $73 million in new funding Wednesday. Northpond Ventures co-led the round.
"Dr. Williams has an inspiring vision to bring B cell therapies to the forefront of medicine," Northpond director Daniel Janse said in the press release.
Here's more on Walking Fish's round and other Series A news from the past week:
Voltron Data Inc., San Francisco, $88 million: Walden Catalyst led the round for this developer of open source data analysis software. BlackRock, Anthos Capital, Battery, Coatue Management, GV, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Nepenthe Capital, Redline and The Factory also invested.
Walking Fish Therapeutics Inc., South San Francisco, $73 million: Northpond Ventures and First Spark Ventures led the round for this developer of cell-based treatments for cancer and other diseases. Terra Magnum Capital Partners also participated.
Hyphen Technologies Inc., San Jose, $24 million: Tiger Global led the round for this developer of a robotic food preparation line for commercial kitchens. Toast co-founder Steve Fredette; Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan; and Donald Moore, the former chief culinary officer of The Cheesecake Factory, also participated.
Dutch Pet Inc., Martinez, $20 million: Forerunner Ventures and Eclipse Ventures co-led the round for this provider of a pet telehealth service.
Flow Inc., $20 million, San Francisco: SVB led the round for this provider of private fund formation and management software. Frontier Ventures, GFR Fund, HOF Capital, L’Attitude Ventures, WOCstar Fund and Mantis VC
DuploCloud Inc., San Jose, $15 million: Mayfield led the round for provider of application development software. Monta Vista Capital also invested.
BioCellection Inc. (dba Novoloop), Menlo Park, $11 million: Envisioning Partners led the round for this developer of a process for converting plastic waste into useful materials. Valo Ventures, Bemis Associates, SOSV, Mistletoe and Time Ventures also participated.
Nano Net Technologies Inc., San Francisco, $10 million: Elevation Capital led the round for this developer of document processing automation software.
Neo.Tax Inc., Mountain View, $10 million: Infinity Ventures led the round for this provider of software that helps businesses identify and claim relevant tax credits. GV, Acrew Capital and Fin VC also invested.
