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POTOMAC TECH WIRE -- June 25
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Sponsored by: IES's Weekly Sales Webcasts Open for DC-Region Sales Leaders and Teams
o Arlington-based Storyblocks To Be Acquired by Great Hill Partners
o Large French IT Company Atos Acquires Reston-based Paladion
o Baltimore-based AsclepiX Therapeutics Raises $35 Million in Series A
o McLean-based ID.me Files SEC Report About $8.3 Million Equity Raise
o Portfolio Company of Virginia Beach-based New Venture Funds Goes Public
o NASA Names D.C HQ Building After “Hidden Figure” Mary Jackson
> IES's Weekly Sales Webcasts Open for DC-Region Sales Leaders and Teams
o Briefly Noted: Cybersecurity Impact Awards, CoStar Group, Correction - Gary Hix
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o Arlington-based Storyblocks To Be Acquired by Great Hill Partners
Arlington, Va. -- Storyblocks, a subscription-based stock media company, has agreed to be acquired by Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. Great Hill has invested in many high-profile digital startups, including Wayfair, The RealReal, Bombas and Custom Ink. The terms of the deal were not released. “The creative industry has hit an inflection point, with the recent pandemic only accelerating growth,” the company said in a news release about the deal. “Storyblocks has seen downloads of digital content more than double since the start of 2020.” The company was founded in 2009 by Joel Holland. Its early venture backers were Updata Partners and QED Investors, with North Atlantic Capital providing additional investment in 2015.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/storyblocks-announces-acquisition-by-great-hill-partners-as-company-reshapes-creative-process-in-digital-media-ecosystem-301082499.html
https://www.storyblocks.com/
o French IT Company Atos Acquires Reston-based Paladion
Reston, Va. -- In a move to strengthen its cybersecurity offerings, Atos, the massive French IT company, announced that it has agreed to acquire Reston-based Paladion, a managed security firm. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Paladion uses AI technology to help its clients detect and respond to cyber attacks. Founded in 2000, Paladion currently has 800 employees and registered $29 million in sales in 2019. “We are excited to join forces with Atos and together become the cybersecurity provider of choice for global organizations in their digital journey.” said Rajat Mohanty, co-founder and CEO at Paladion. Publicly traded Atos had sales of 11.5 billion euro in 2019.
https://www.paladion.net/
https://atos.net/en/2020/press-release_2020_06_24/atos-to-acquire-managed-detection-and-response-leader-paladion
o Baltimore-based AsclepiX Therapeutics Raises $35 Million in Series A
Baltimore -- AsclepiX Therapeutics, Baltimore-based biopharmaceutical company working on treatments for eye diseases, has closed on a $35 million Series A round. The round was led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund, with participation from the Perceptive Life Sciences Fund, along with existing investors Rapha Capital Management and Barer & Son Capital. The company is using computational biology to try to develop treatments for retina conditions. The financing will be used to fund Phase 1/2a clinical trials of the company’s lead investigational drug.
https://asclepix.com/asclepix-therapeutics-announces-35-million-series-a-financing/
o McLean-based ID.me Files SEC Report About $8.3 Million Equity Raise
McLean, Va. -- ID.me, the McLean-based identity management startup, has raised $8.3 million in new equity capital, according to a recent filing with the SEC. The company said it has seen a surge in demand for its digital identity verification in recent months, as many in-person business processes have now shifted online. “We are fortunate to have terrific investors who have helped us top up in order to stay focused on operating the business during this period of hyper-growth,” said Blake Hall, CEO and Founder of ID.me, in a statement. For the last few months, ID.me said it has been signing up 60,000 new users per day. “There are now 24 million ID.me members who are using our digital wallet for hundreds of use cases from buying cars and electronics online to accessing healthcare and government benefit programs,” said Hall. In 2017, ID.me raised $17 million in a Series B round led by FTV Capital.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data
https://www.id.me/
o Portfolio Company of Virginia Beach-based New Venture Funds Goes Public
Virginia Beach, Va -- New Ventures Funds, a Virginia Beach-based venture fund targeting investments in companies across healthcare and life sciences, said that one of its portfolio companies -- Royalty Pharma -- has raised $2.18 billion through an IPO. The fund said it was a “day one” investor in Royalty Pharma.
http://www.newventuresfunds.com/
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-ventures-portfolio-company-royalty-pharma-surges-on-public-debut-301083689.html?tc=eml_cleartime/
o NASA Names D.C HQ Building After “Hidden Figure” Mary Jackson
Washington, D.C. -- NASA has announced that the agency's headquarters building in Washington, D.C., will be named after Mary W. Jackson, the first African American female engineer at NASA. Jackson was featured prominently in the "Hidden Figures” book and movie. Jackson started her NASA career in the segregated West Area Computing Unit of the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. She is considered a key figure in helping NASA send the first astronauts into space.
https://www.nasa.gov/modernfigures
