Venture Notes - January 11, 2025

By Milt Capps

Published January 11, 2025

► Memphis-based SSM Growth Equity IV LP and its Co-Invest LP filed placeholders in December for an uspecified equity raise. SSM Partners' website explains they make $10MM-$30MM equity investments for growth or recapitalization. Targets typically have $5MM-$30MM revenue and 20%+ revenue growth rate. Priorities here. VNC's previous SSM coverage. Team here. Portfolio.

Cal Westenberg

NASHVILLE-based Mobius AI, born with co-founder Vanderbilt University's tech-commercialization impetus, aims to revolutionize the transportation industry with a reconfigurable AI platform supporting planning and optimization of large vehicular fleets. In-line with our indepth report last August, CEO Cal Westenberg, 38, has mapped current and future capital-raises through mid-2026 and now has some Angels aboard. VNC research indicates its initial SAFE raise remains open for early investors and is expandable. CTO Michael Wilbur PhD-Computer Science (Vanderbilt) recently joined the team, and he aims to add two software engineers, which, with Chief Science Office Abhishek Dubey PhD, will bring the team to 5 FTE, which could prove ample til mid-2026. The MobiusAI platform is scheduled to activate this summer within the company's first targeted, but undisclosed industry segment, and its overall sales pipeline is healthy. Advisors include attorneys with Transition Law Group (St. Louis). Other VNC AI coverage.

Jaimie Leverton

ULYS HOLDINGS Inc. operates mainly from New York City, but its listed principal place of business is Nashville, where VNC research indicates it currently has at least one team member and one or more investors. Ulys recently reported on a $7.9MM raise, with roughly $7.7MM-in from 26 investors, in a filing made by CEO Jaime Leverton. This past September, Leverton signed for submission of an initial Ulys U.S. trademark application, citing a variety of potentially synergistic applications of downloadable Ulys-branded software for functions including managing digital wallets non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrency assets, as well as for use in financial trading, banking services, payments authentication, electronic funds payment and transfer, support of transactions using blockchain technology and others. Names of attorneys associated with Cooley LLC (D.C.) were included in the application. According to LinkedIn, ULYS team members include Chief Product Officer Rishi Dean; CFO Melanie Pump CPA; and, VP-Engineering Randolph Harrison, among others. Leverton previously led Toronto-based Hut8, an energy infrastructure operator and Bitcoin miner, based in Miami. Among other roles, Leverton is a mentor for Toronto's Creative Destruction Lab, the mission of which is the "commercialization of science for the betterment of mankind." Leverton recently declared her concern about "the gender gap in crypto ownership widening..." and related matters in a piece here. Related.

Abinav Sankar

AZRA AI, the Franklin, Tenn.-based developer of an AI-powered workflow automation platform that supports identification and triage and followup for oncology patients got a bit of new capital, reflected in a Jan. 7 SEC filing by issuer Azra AI Holdings that reported on roughly $2MM in new equity capital investment plus about $4MM in conversion of earlier convertible securities. The filing was by Syracuse, N.Y.-based CEO John Marshall. The Azra board is chaired by Denver-based Sopris Venture Capital Partner Abinav Sankar, based in New York City. VNC research suggests Sopris has majority interest in Azra AI, which our research suggests has raised about $15MM, to date.

Richard Hendrix

SPAC REDUX? Memphis-based Gary Wunderlich Jr., the former managing partner at Live Oak Merchant Partners and its SPAC-producing affiliates, is now president and CEO of Pinnacle Financial's PNFP Capital Markets Inc. He is now also senior advisor to Live Oak Acquisition Corp. V, which may become Tennessee most recent blank-check or SPAC entrant. LOAC-V yesterday made its red-herring S-1 filing. The offering's sponsor is Live Oak Sponsor V, LLC. If approved, an SEC go-effective response will set into motion a 24- to 27-month pursuit of one or more targets for a merger, acquisition or similar transaction. The filers' project in this filing having as much as $194MM available to execute a given transaction. Chairman and CEO of LOAC-V is Richard Hendrix, who is also founder and Managing Partner of Live Oak Merchant Partners. Prospective directors and management team members are described beginning at page 105 and at page 138 of the Jan. 11 SEC filing. Successful Live Oak-driven spacs in 2020 resulted in deals with Danimer Scientific (NYSE: DNMR) and Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS), respectively. LOAC-V intends to scout on a sector-agnostic basis for candidate targets with $500MM-$2BN enterprise value. Directors and director nominees include, in addition to the aforementioned Hendrix, Adam J. Fishman, Ashton Hudson, Jonathan Furer and Andrea Tarbox. VNC's earlier SPAC coverage.

Ian Ayre, Lindsey Paola

NASHVILE SC Founding CEO Ian Ayre is now Vice Chair of Nashville's Major League Soccer enterprise, while former COO Lindsey Paola is now chief business officer -- with each of them reporting directly to Nashville SC Majority Owner and Chair John Ingram. The club said in a Jan. 9 release, "As part of his ongoing responsibilities, Ayre will maintain oversight of the club's annual budgets, and lead special projects as determined by the club's Chairman, including team investments and fundraising/capital raises. The former Nashville SC and Liverpool FC CEO will continue to supervise soccer operations and player personnel, as he will also represent the club at both Major League Soccer and MLS NEXT Pro Board of Governors meetings." Further, Ayres will be an advisor directly to each Ingram, Paola and General Manager Mike Jacobs. Paola now also oversees day-to-day business operations of the club's MLS NEXT Pro Club, Huntsville City FC. Geodis Park Stadium is to host three FIFA Club World Cup matches this summer. Paola will play a strategically important role during the run-up to the FIFA games. Nashville SC 2024 results. Paola's LinkedIn. VNC coverage: Ingram | Ayre | Wikipedia NSC Team / 2024 Season