{"id":12595,"date":"2021-08-02T11:44:29","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T09:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/?p=12595"},"modified":"2021-08-02T15:29:53","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T13:29:53","slug":"successful-exit-for-bmt-evonik-acquires-biotech-company-jenacell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/2021\/successful-exit-for-bmt-evonik-acquires-biotech-company-jenacell\/","title":{"rendered":"Successful exit for bm|t \u2013 Evonik acquires biotech company JeNaCell"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion of JeNa\u00adCell expands Evonik\u2019s port\u00adfo\u00adlio of bio\u00adma\u00adte\u00adri\u00adals used in med\u00adical technology<\/li>\n<li>JeNa\u00adCell to real\u00adize full poten\u00adtial of its inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive tech\u00adnol\u00adogy and fur\u00adther expand its tech\u00adnol\u00adogy port\u00adfo\u00adlio with Evonik\u2019s support<\/li>\n<li>High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds (HTGF) financed the seed round in 2012 together with the Foun\u00adda\u00adtion for Tech\u00adnol\u00adogy, Inno\u00adva\u00adtion and Research Thuringia (STIFT).<\/li>\n<li>bm|t acquired stake in JeNa\u00adCell in 2015 together with Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland and HTGF fund investor Evonik Ven\u00adture Capital<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Jena\/Essen\/Bonn\/Erfurt, 2 August, 2021<\/strong> \u2013 Evonik is fully acquir\u00ading Ger\u00adman biotech com\u00adpany JeNa\u00adCell, expand\u00ading its bio\u00adma\u00adte\u00adri\u00adals port\u00adfo\u00adlio to pro\u00advide biotech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcally derived cel\u00adlu\u00adlose. The nature-iden\u00adti\u00adcal mate\u00adr\u00adial devel\u00adoped by JeNa\u00adCell is used in med\u00adical tech\u00adnol\u00adogy and der\u00adma\u00adtol\u00adogy for the treat\u00adment of wounds and burns as well as in hydroac\u00adtive skin care. JeNaCell\u2019s employ\u00adees will con\u00adtinue to work at the devel\u00adop\u00adment and pro\u00adduc\u00adtion site in Jena, Germany.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJeNa\u00adCell is a great exam\u00adple for the impor\u00adtance of the Ger\u00adman inno\u00adva\u00adtion land\u00adscape and the value it can bring to cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtions,\u201d said Bern\u00adhard Mohr, head of Evonik Ven\u00adture Cap\u00adi\u00adtal (EVC). \u201cThe con\u00adsor\u00adtium of lead\u00ading Ger\u00adman investors rec\u00adog\u00adnized the indus\u00adtry shift to nature-iden\u00adti\u00adcal mate\u00adri\u00adals early on and actively pro\u00advided JeNa\u00adCell with sup\u00adport and guid\u00adance to develop this tech\u00adnol\u00adogy. EVC got to know the start-up through HTGF. Its rel\u00ade\u00advance to the corporation\u2019s inno\u00adva\u00adtion growth fields was the cru\u00adcial fac\u00adtor behind the investment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur young com\u00adpany has been on an excit\u00ading jour\u00adney since its foun\u00adda\u00adtion. We are delighted to pur\u00adsue our vision together with Evonik and real\u00adize our full poten\u00adtial. This has been made pos\u00adsi\u00adble through the ded\u00adi\u00adcated sup\u00adport we have con\u00adsis\u00adtently received in all mat\u00adters from a team of investors that has grown over the years,\u201d said Dana Kralisch, Chief Exec\u00adu\u00adtive Offi\u00adcer and co-founder of JeNa\u00adCell. She also high\u00adlighted how grate\u00adful the whole team was for the vital sup\u00adport they received dur\u00ading the first few pre\u00adcar\u00adi\u00adous years when set\u00adting up the company.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As part of its exten\u00adsive work on pan\u00adels of judges, High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds came across JeNa\u00adCell for the first time in 2010 as an EXIST judge. Together with STIFT and a Ger\u00adman fam\u00adily of investors, it financed the company\u2019s seed round in 2012. bm|t came on board in 2015 as part of a Series A financ\u00ading round, together with Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland, and they were then joined by Evonik Ven\u00adture Cap\u00adi\u00adtal (EVC) in the sec\u00adond clos\u00ading. EVC, as lead investor, along with bm|t and HTGF met the lion\u2019s share of the company\u2019s financ\u00ading needs dur\u00ading mul\u00adti\u00adple joint financ\u00ading rounds.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Fol\u00adlow\u00ading the com\u00adplete takeover, JeNaCell\u2019s port\u00adfo\u00adlio will now be inte\u00adgrated into Evonik\u2019s health care busi\u00adness. Through the move, the cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtion will accel\u00ader\u00adate the port\u00adfo\u00adlio shift of its Nutri\u00adtion &amp; Care growth divi\u00adsion towards sys\u00adtem solu\u00adtions and expand the divi\u00adsion-wide tech\u00adnol\u00adogy plat\u00adform of nat\u00adural mate\u00adri\u00adals for med\u00adical technology.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvonik\u2019s acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion of JeNa\u00adCell pro\u00advides impres\u00adsive proof of how coop\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion between start-ups and cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtions can lead to a win-win sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion,\u201d empha\u00adsised Alex von Franken\u00adberg, Man\u00adag\u00ading Direc\u00adtor of High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds. \u201cAs a seed investor, we\u2019re delighted that we can sup\u00adport this by act\u00ading as a plat\u00adform of exchange between start-ups, investors, indus\u00adtry and SMEs,\u201d Franken\u00adberg&nbsp;added.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>JeNa\u00adCell is a spin-off from the Friedrich-Schiller-Uni\u00adver\u00adsity Jena in Ger\u00admany. It started out with a small pilot facil\u00adity on two lab tables, and has now grown into a large clean\u00adroom pro\u00adduc\u00adtion hall with hexa facil\u00adi\u00adties in Jena. In 2017, the com\u00adpany launched its first prod\u00aduct, epicite, a med\u00adical wound dress\u00ading for the treat\u00adment of chronic wounds, sur\u00adgi\u00adcal wounds and burns that is based on biotech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcally derived cel\u00adlu\u00adlose. It is a skin-friendly and soft bio\u00adma\u00adte\u00adr\u00adial that pro\u00advides a heal\u00ading-pro\u00admot\u00ading micro\u00adcli\u00admate on the wound and can be removed pain\u00adlessly. Fur\u00adther tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies devel\u00adoped by JeNa\u00adCell include soft tis\u00adsue implants, trans\u00adder\u00admal deliv\u00adery sys\u00adtems and der\u00adma\u00adto\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal applications.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Mar\u00adtin Pfis\u00adter, Prin\u00adci\u00adpal at HTGF, came across JeNa\u00adCell back in 2010: \u201cThe founders showed tremen\u00addous energy when pre\u00adsent\u00ading the lab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtory-scale method to pro\u00adduce biotech cel\u00adlu\u00adlose that they had devel\u00adoped dur\u00ading their PhDs. We expe\u00adri\u00adenced all of the usual highs and lows of a start-up together, and I\u2019m delighted that JeNa\u00adCell can now con\u00adtinue to develop its prod\u00aducts in much larger dimen\u00adsions and bring them to customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Katrin Uschmann, Senior Invest\u00adment Man\u00adager at bm|t, com\u00adments: \u201cI\u2019m really pleased that in Evonik, we\u2019ve found a part\u00adner for JeNa\u00adCell that is an expe\u00adri\u00adenced mar\u00adket player and a per\u00adfect fit strate\u00adgi\u00adcally, and one that will con\u00adtinue to develop the com\u00adpany at its Thuringia base. In return, Evonik gains a highly inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive prod\u00aduct and an excel\u00adlent&nbsp;team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJena\u00adCell GmbH is a text\u00adbook exam\u00adple of the out\u00adstand\u00ading tech\u00adnol\u00adogy start-ups from Thuringia. In addi\u00adtion to estab\u00adlish\u00ading our sup\u00adport for inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive start-ups, we have con\u00adsis\u00adtently built up our mis\u00adsion invest\u00adment activ\u00adi\u00adties within our invest\u00adments. As one of the first investors, we were able to sup\u00adport the team of founders led by PD Dr Dana Kralisch. We\u2019d like to con\u00adgrat\u00adu\u00adlate JeNa\u00adCell GmbH on its suc\u00adcess and thank every\u00adbody who believed in the tech\u00adnol\u00adogy and the JeNa\u00adCell team from day one,\u201d said Dr Sven G\u00fcn\u00adther, CEO of the Foun\u00adda\u00adtion for Tech\u00adnol\u00adogy, Inno\u00adva\u00adtion and Research Thuringia (STIFT).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Evonik Ven\u00adture Capital<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With a fund size of \u20ac250 mil\u00adlion, Evonik Ven\u00adture Cap\u00adi\u00adtal (EVC) has made more than 30 invest\u00adments since 2012, both direct and fund invest\u00adments. EVC has offices in Ger\u00admany, the U.S.A. and China and invests in inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies and dis\u00adrup\u00adtive busi\u00adness mod\u00adels in the fields of Nutri\u00adtion &amp; Care, Spe\u00adcialty Addi\u00adtives and Smart Mate\u00adri\u00adals, as well as enabling dig\u00adi\u00adtal tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies. The EVC team of expe\u00adri\u00adenced invest\u00adment man\u00adagers pro\u00advide port\u00adfo\u00adlio com\u00adpa\u00adnies com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsive sup\u00adport. The invest\u00adment scope ranges from early stage to growth stage with invest\u00adment vol\u00adume per port\u00adfo\u00adlio com\u00adpany of up to \u20ac15 million.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>About High-Tech Gr\u00fcnderfonds&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds (HTGF) is a seed investor that finances high-poten\u00adtial, tech-dri\u00adven start-ups. With around EUR 900 mil\u00adlion in total invest\u00adment vol\u00adume across three funds and an inter\u00adna\u00adtional net\u00adwork of part\u00adners, HTGF has already helped forge more than 600 start-ups since 2005. Dri\u00adven by their exper\u00adtise, entre\u00adpre\u00adneur\u00adial spirit and pas\u00adsion, its team of expe\u00adri\u00adenced invest\u00adment man\u00adagers and startup experts help guide the devel\u00adop\u00adment of young com\u00adpa\u00adnies. HTGF\u2019s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of dig\u00adi\u00adtal tech, indus\u00adtrial tech\u00adnol\u00adogy, life sci\u00adences, chem\u00adistry and related busi\u00adness areas. To date, exter\u00adnal investors have injected more than EUR 3 bil\u00adlion into the HTGF port\u00adfo\u00adlio via more than 1,700 fol\u00adlow-on financ\u00ading rounds. HTGF has also suc\u00adcess\u00adfully sold inter\u00adests in more than 130 companies.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Investors in this pub\u00adlic-pri\u00advate part\u00adner\u00adship include the Fed\u00aderal Min\u00adistry For Eco\u00adnomic Affairs and Energy, KfW Cap\u00adi\u00adtal, and Fraun\u00adhofer-Gesellschaft e.V., as well as the com\u00adpa\u00adnies ALTANA, BASF, BAYER, B.Braun, Boehringer Ingel\u00adheim, Robert Bosch, B\u00dcFA, CEWE, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post DHL, Dr\u00e4ger, 1+1 AG, EVONIK, EWE AG, FOND OF, Haniel, Het\u00adtich, Knauf, K\u00f6r\u00adber, LANXESS, media + more ven\u00adture Beteili\u00adgungs GmbH &amp; Co. KG, PHOENIX CONTACT, QIAGEN, RWE Gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion SE, SAP, Sch\u00adufa, Schwarz Gruppe, STIHL, Th\u00fcga, Vec\u00adtor Infor\u00admatik, WACKER and Wilh. Wer\u00adhahn KG. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.htgf.de\/en\">www.htgf.de\/en<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Con\u00adtact<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds Man\u00adage\u00adment&nbsp;GmbH<\/p>\n<p>Ste\u00adfanie Gr\u00fcter, Head of Mar\u00adket\u00ading &amp; Communications<\/p>\n<p>T.: +49 (0) 228 82300&nbsp;188<\/p>\n<p>s.grueter@htgf.de<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Con\u00adtact for investors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds Man\u00adage\u00adment&nbsp;GmbH<\/p>\n<p>Mar\u00adtin Pfis\u00adter, Principal<\/p>\n<p>T.: +49 (0) 228 82300&nbsp;123<\/p>\n<p>m.pfister@htgf.de<\/p>\n<p><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>About bm|t<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Erfurt-based, beteili\u00adgungs\u00adman\u00adage\u00adment th\u00fcrin\u00adgen (bm|t) is the first address for ven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal invest\u00adments in Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen, Ger\u00admany. bm|t cur\u00adrently man\u00adages ten invest\u00adment funds with a total vol\u00adume of 440M EUR. bm|t invests in inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive com\u00adpa\u00adnies with strong growth poten\u00adtial across all sec\u00adtors and all phases of the cor\u00adpo\u00adrate life\u00adcy\u00adcle. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmt.com\">www.bm\u2011t.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About STIFT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since its foun\u00adda\u00adtion in 1993, the STIFT has been self\u00adlessly sup\u00adport\u00ading and pro\u00admot\u00ading Thuringian actors and stake\u00adhold\u00aders in edu\u00adca\u00adtion, research, devel\u00adop\u00adment, inno\u00adva\u00adtion and entre\u00adpre\u00adneur\u00adship along the entire edu\u00adca\u00adtional and eco\u00adnomic devel\u00adop\u00adment chain. From child\u00adlike curios\u00adity to bril\u00adliant research, from inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive busi\u00adness ideas to suc\u00adcess\u00adful tech\u00adnol\u00adogy com\u00adpa\u00adnies. The Thuringian Regional Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Pro\u00adgram (TRIP), ini\u00adti\u00adated by STIFT, started in 2019 as an accel\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtor pro\u00adgram offer\u00ading ambi\u00adtious star\u00adtups exper\u00adtise, work\u00adshops, bud\u00adget and net\u00adwork\u00ading with investors, com\u00adpa\u00adnies and inno\u00adva\u00adtors with a strong focus on invest\u00adment readi\u00adness. In indi\u00advid\u00adual cases STIFT itself acts as an early-stage and side investor for promis\u00ading Thuringian startups.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion of JeNa\u00adCell expands Evonik\u2019s port\u00adfo\u00adlio of bio\u00adma\u00adte\u00adri\u00adals used in med\u00adical tech\u00adnol\u00adogy JeNa\u00adCell to real\u00adize full poten\u00adtial of its inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive tech\u00adnol\u00adogy and fur\u00adther expand its tech\u00adnol\u00adogy port\u00adfo\u00adlio with Evonik\u2019s sup\u00adport High-Tech Gr\u00fcn\u00adder\u00adfonds (HTGF) financed the seed round in 2012 together with the Foun\u00adda\u00adtion for Tech\u00adnol\u00adogy, Inno\u00adva\u00adtion and Research Thuringia (STIFT). bm|t acquired stake in JeNaCell&nbsp;[\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[157,170,171,172,174,175,177,210],"class_list":["post-12595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3","tag-exit-en","tag-tsf-en","tag-thuringia","tag-thuringia-founder-fund","tag-wbf-en","tag-thuringia-growth-fund","tag-bmt-en","tag-investeepartner"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}