Weekly Round Up: 2/5/2021

At Greenspring we believe in venture capital's ability to propel innovation, job creation and positive societal change. We celebrate those who think differently, take measured risk and challenge perceptions. Here's what's trending in VC this week:

🔬“In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted what many in the biotech industry already knew: the future of therapeutics, sustainability, and even food, will likely come about through possibilities of biology.” Announcing NFX Bio, Greenspring manager NFX’s newest strategy designed to fund the next generation of scientist-founders committed to solving complex global problems with the power of technology. Read more here.

📣Calling early stage healthcare companies: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has just launched 1501 Health, an incubation and investment program that provides capital, expertise and support centered around growing and scaling your startup to improve the future of healthcare. Learn more about the application process, which opens on February 1, 2021 and closes February 22, 2021, here.

Check out Aleph’s innovative approach to its Annual Meeting during Covid, hosted in VR, complete with Oculus headsets. Aleph always sets the bar for annual meeting season but really outdid themselves in 2020. We’re honored to be your partners! Check out more here.

otonomo, an automotive data service platform, has raised $280 million in recent financing with participation from Greenspring primary manager Bessemer Venture Partners. Read more here.

Literati, a book club membership service both for kids and adults, has raised $40 million in Series B financing led by Greenspring primary manager Felicis Ventures with participation from Greenspring primary manager Founders Fund. Read more here.

We are thrilled to congratulate Joanne Chen on her new role as General Partner at Greenspring primary manager Foundation Capital! Read more about her journey as a woman in VC here.

Check out this recent episode from Enterprise Radio, hosted by Greenspring primary manager Work-Bench, where Principal Kelley Mak and Head of Content Kira Colburn talk about the firm’s busy January alongside GP Jonathan Lehr here.

Congrats to WorkRise (fka RigUp) on their rebrand, reflecting their broadened focus beyond oil and gas to include wind, solar, construction, and defense industries. Clients use the platform for recruiting and onboarding employees, ongoing worker management, training invoicing and payments, empowering energy and construction companies to scale quickly and reduce overhead with digital tools to manage workforce and vendor operations. Read more here. 

We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with the Omnispace team as they continue to expand their global footprint! The Company is on a mission to offer ubiquitous 5G-compliant connectivity for enterprise users using a hybrid of wireless ground technology and satellites. Read more here. 

We are excited to announce the launch of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, a podcast about Limited Partners who think differently about allocating to venture. With this podcast, we sit down with LPs to unpack what makes a strong GP/LP relationship, how they think about investing and portfolio construction, deal diligence, the macro environment, and more. In our inaugural episode, Greenspring Partner Hunter Somerville sits down with Ryan Rathman and Travis Haney from the State of Michigan Department of Treasury Bureau of Investments. Listen to the episode here.

The content here is for informational purposes only and should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice. It does NOT constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase any investment or a recommendation to buy or sell a security. In fact, the content is not directed to any investor or potential investor and may not be used to evaluate or make any investment.