Kayothera, Inc. Raises $8 Million in Series A Financing
Princeton, New Jersey
Foundation Venture Capital Group (FVCG) is excited to announce the Series A investment led by Accelerator Life Science Partners (ALSP) in KayoThera,Inc., a FVCG portfolio company. KayoThera, a company developing cancer immunotherapies and a Princeton University spinout, is working to give hope to some of the most vulnerable cancer patients. Dr.Yibin Kang, a Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology and Dr. Mark Esposito, a postdoctoral research associate in the Kang lab, co-founded KayoThera to pursue the development of first-in-class immunotherapies based on discoveries from Dr. Esposito’s post-doctoral research. FVCG provided the initial seed funding to the company in 2019 to advance its therapies to treat late-stage and metastatic cancers, including breast, pancreatic, colorectal, brain and kidney.
“FVCG was critical to the early success of KayoThera as they provided not only the capital but also the expertise needed to launch KayoThera out of Princeton”, described Yibin Kang, who also serves as the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at KayoThera.
FVCG provides funding, access to operational support, and business guidance to very early-stage companies with innovative ideas. “We are excited that our initial investment in KayoThera has successfully advanced its research and that the further investment by ALSP will allow KayoThera to continue to advance toward clinical development to give hope to those affected by terminal cancer diagnoses,” said George F. Heinrich, MD, Vice Chair and CEO, FVCG.
ALSP invests to build successful biotechnology companies based on innovative science. ALSP and syndicating investors are investing up to $8,000,000 to help continue to advance the novel technology of KayoThera from its current development stage to a product that will significantly impact the global health of patients with late-stage cancer.
“We are extremely excited about the investment by ALSP, as their mission is well-aligned our goals and mission. With their investment, we are gaining a partner with critical knowledge that will provide resources and support to allow us to continue to develop first in class immunotherapies to drive cures in advanced cancers,” described Mark Esposito, Vice President of Research and Development at KayoThera.
About KayoThera Inc
KayoThera, Inc. is an early-stage therapeutics company focused on the development of a new class of cancer immunotherapeutics. KayoThera is developing therapies to treat late-stage and metastatic cancers including breast, lung, pancreatic, colorectal, brain, and kidney cancers. Based on discoveries from Dr. Mark Esposito’s post-doctoral research in Princeton University and professor Yibin Kang, PhD. The company was initially funded by Foundation Venture Capital Group (FVCG).
About Foundation Venture Capital Group
Foundation Venture Capital Group (FVCG) is a Princeton, New Jersey based organization that uses impact investing to provide pre-seed and seed funding to health-related start-up companies at their partner organizations to help them advance toward and through commercialization. FVCG is an affiliate of the New Jersey Health Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation that supports health-related research and education programs in New Jersey through its Research/Community Health and Social Service grant programs. A third funding program, the Innovation Grant program, funded through the Foundation for Health Advancement, provides grants to support early-stage university technologies with strong commercialization potential.
