Tag: StartUps

Categories
World News

Air-con and local weather change: Begin-ups making an attempt to assist

Air conditioning and climate change: Start-ups trying to help

This June was the hottest in American history. The 116-degree heat melted power cables in Portland, Oregon, and smashed previous temperature records. Seattle recorded an all-time high of 108 degrees, as did the Canadian province of British Columbia, at a whopping 121 degrees.

As the world warms, more people are installing air conditioning. Global energy demand for cooling has more than tripled since 1990 and could more than double between now and 2040 without stricter efficiency standards.

But air conditioning itself is a major contributor to global warming. Altogether, building operations that include heating, cooling and lighting account for 28% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. That’s more than the entire global transportation sector.

But SkyCool, Gradient and a number of other companies are working on the problem. They’re trying to apply new technologies to the traditionally inflexible heating and cooling industry, finance the upfront costs, communicate the value to property owners and make sure it’s all done equitably. 

Watch the video to learn more.

Categories
Health

Peter Thiel-backed psychedelic start-up’s shares pop in Wall Avenue debut

Peter Thiel-backed psychedelic start-up's shares pop in Wall Street debut

Peter Thiel-backed psychedelic start-up Atai Life Sciences soared on Friday on its first day of trading on Wall Street.

The newly listed Nasdaq stock opened 40% before falling a little.

The German biotech company’s IPO on Thursday evening was $ 15 per share, the upper end of the expected range. The company, which aims to make psychedelic drugs for the treatment of mental disorders, raised $ 225 million on a valuation of $ 2.3 billion.

Atai is the third psychedelic biotech company to go public in the US, following in the footsteps of MindMed, which went public on Nasdaq in April, and Founder Fund-funded Compass Pathways, which listed in September were. As of Thursday’s close, Compass Pathways is up 26% since it debuted, and MindMed, which was just announcing the resignation of its CEO, has been down about 19% since it went public.

Each biotech develops therapies with the psychedelic mushroom compound psilocybin, LSD and MDMA derivatives for the treatment of addiction and mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and traumatic brain injuries. Three years after its inception, Atai Life Sciences has 10 therapeutic programs in its pipeline, each in different phases of clinical trials.

Atai founder and chairman Christian Angermayer said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”: “The world we are building is a bad place for our brains, so mental health problems will increase. Portfolio to end the mental health crisis . “

Investor interest in psychedelic treatments has grown as the medical community’s interest in these therapies has grown.

Centers for psychedelics and psychology include Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, and the Icahn School of Medicine. Recent studies showing MDMA’s promise in treating post-traumatic stress disorder and the effectiveness of psilocybin, a hallucinogenic chemical found in psychedelic mushrooms, in treating drug-resistant depression have only increased interest in the area.

Angermayer was an early investor in Compass Pathways, and his own company, Atai, serves as the holding company for various psychedelic startups seeking alternative treatments for mental illness. He told CNBC on Friday that new age biotechs are building on centuries of practice in shamanic cultures and religions.

There are currently federal restrictions on psychedelic mushrooms, MDMA – commonly known as molly or ecstasy – and LSD around the world. However, Oregon became the first US state to legalize psychedelics for therapeutic use last year. Washington, DC residents also recently voted to decriminalize the use of psychedelics for medical purposes.

Atai Life Sciences listed on Nasdaq for its IPO on June 18, 2021.

Source: Nasdaq

Angermayer insists that government approval of these drugs for therapeutic purposes for the mentally ill could make a big difference. “They are very, very strong drugs, but they must be taken under supervision. … You will trip while sitting with your therapist.”

Atai Life Sciences are, among others, the billionaire Thiel as well as Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Investments and Angermayer’s own Apeiron Investment Group.

According to venture capital tracker CB Insights, VC deals in psychedelics have grown significantly over the past three years: less than $ 100 million in venture capital was invested in psychedelic startups in 2018 and 2019, but $ 346 million in 2020. By April 2021, VCs had already invested $ 329 million in the industry.

It’s no wonder Atai’s was oversubscribed more than 12 times, according to a market source that asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of the discussion. “A good part was taken over by existing investors,” said the person, adding that Thiel was the largest existing investor and that he would be “doubled” when it went public.

Mutual fund Palo Santo said it made a notable stake in Atai’s initial public offering. “There is an urgent need to address our broken mental health system,” said Daniel Goldberg, co-founder of Palo Santo, in a statement. “We believe psychedelics will expand treatment options and transform the outdated system.”

Atai filed an S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in April that showed it raised a total of $ 362.3 million from private investors at the time.

The company, which describes itself as a drug development platform, was founded to acquire, incubate, and develop psychedelics and other drugs used to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental illnesses.

Atai, which employs around 50 people in offices in Berlin, New York and San Diego, currently works with 14 companies focused on drug development and other technologies.

In exchange for a controlling interest in the drugs and technologies they develop, Atai helps scientists raise money, work with regulators, and conduct clinical trials. None of Atai’s drugs have yet been officially approved by regulatory agencies.

Thiel invested $ 11.9 million in Atai in November through his venture firm Thiel Capital.

“Atai’s great virtue is to take mental illness as seriously as we should all have taken illnesses all along,” said Thiel, the co-founder of Palantir and PayPal, in a statement shared with CNBC at the time. “The company’s most valuable asset is its sense of urgency.”

Categories
Business

‘The Market Appears Loopy’: Begin-Ups Wrestle With Flood of Provides

‘The Market Seems Crazy’: Start-Ups Wrestle With Flood of Offers

The frenzy has already created problems. Nikola, an electric car startup that went public in June via a SPAC, fell more than 80 percent after mutual fund Hindenburg Research accused the company in September of lying about its technology, overvaluing deals and being fooled into rolling a truck down a hill in a product video. Nikola founder and chairman Trevor Milton has resigned and the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department have started investigations into the company.

The SEC has also launched an investigation into Clover Health, a health insurance start-up, and Lordstown Motors, an electric vehicle start-up, both of which have gone public through blank check companies in recent months.

On March 10, the SEC warned that SPACs face various risks and potential conflicts of interest. The agency particularly criticized those endorsed by celebrities and concluded that “celebrities, like anyone else, can be tricked into participating in a risky investment.”

For the time being, the special vehicles will remain on the lookout for destinations.

Jedidiah Yueh, executive director of Delphix, a data infrastructure company in Redwood City, California, heard the interest firsthand. Mr Yueh, who founded Delphix 13 years ago, said SPACs started reaching out last summer as his business picked up amid the pandemic. The company, which helps clients process and automate data, recently turned profitable and is a candidate for an IPO.

But Mr. Yueh said he had not decided whether Delphix would go public via a traditional offering or some other route such as “direct listing” or SPAC. While he’s sorted the options, SPACs have flooded his inbox with messages almost daily. A mailer was even sent to Delphix’s vacant office last year while everyone was working from home in the pandemic.

Mr. Yueh said he met with some SPACs out of curiosity. But he quickly got the feeling that sponsors were telling him what they thought they heard. When they found out that Delphix was profitable, “just shift gears and talk about how easy it is to work with you,” he said.

He said he stopped responding to cold pitches and created a can response to fend off others. The investors he’s met with aren’t the kind of long-term supporters Delphix wanted, he said. But alluding to the trend of prominent SPACs, he added, “I would have had a meeting with Shaq.”