Kickfund joins group of investors including JFG Life Sciences Foundation, BaseLaunch, and Venture Kick

NXI Therapeutics AG, developer of tomorrow’s disruptive immunotherapies by coronin 1 modulation, today announces the extension of a pre-Seed financing totalling to 3.5 million CHF. This financing extension comes in the run-up to a larger Seed financing that the company is currently raising. Kickfund joins a group of investors including lead investor JFG Life Sciences Foundation, BaseLaunch and Venture Kick. NXI has also been supported by an InnoBooster grant from the Gebert Rüf Foundation and a Propelling grant from the University of Basel.

Further, Patrick Burgermeister, CEO of the JFG Life Sciences Foundation, will join the company’s Board of Directors. He has a highly relevant background with prior positions in venture capital (BioMedPartners), pharma (Novartis) and banking (Zürcher Kantonalbank). He holds Master’s degrees in Molecular Biology from the University of Basel and in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen (HSG).

About coronin 1 modulation

Coronin 1 depletion in preclinical models allows long-term acceptance of genetically unrelated organ transplants, prevents Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD), protects from several autoimmune disorders and at the same time allows to maintain a normal life span without infections and emergence of cancer, a frequent complication of contemporary immunosuppressants. Thus, modulating the coronin 1 pathway holds great potential for more effective and safer treatments for autoimmune diseases, as well as for transplantation medicine.

About NXI Therapeutics

NXI Therapeutics is a spin-off from the Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland founded by Prof. Jean Pieters and CSO Dr. med. Rajesh Jayachandran. The company focuses on clinical applications in T cell-mediated autoimmune conditions and is committed to creating tomorrow’s disruptive immunotherapies through modulation of coronin 1 in immune cells. The uniqueness of the thereby induced immunomodulation is its selectivity for auto- and allo-immune responses, whereas immune responses against infections and cancer are maintained.

About Kickfund

Kickfund aims to invest in Swiss pre-seed and seed stage technology startups that have won the Venture Kick competition – an established startup competition and accelerator that has been supporting Swiss early-stage companies for over 15 years. Kickfund Ventures Fund I SCSp is a closed-end fund domiciled in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
The partnership was initiated and established by a group of people who are strong supporters of the startup and innovation ecosystem in Switzerland.
Kickfund AG is a FINMA-licensed portfolio manager acting as investment manager of the Fund.

About BaseLaunch

BaseLaunch is the Basel-based incubator and accelerator that helps scientists and entrepreneurs launch exceptional biotech companies. It serves as a growth platform for early-stage ventures developing cutting-edge therapeutics. BaseLaunch helps build companies from inception through to Series A funding, providing financing and supporting all aspects of company creation and growth. Since 2018, the portfolio of 24 ventures have raised in total over US$ 600 millions in venture financing. BaseLaunch is operationally run and financed by Basel Area Business & Innovation and partners with leading global pharma and biotech companies and a venture fund.