Monday, August 25, 2008

Living Proof puts away $7M more in Series A funds

Waltham-based Polaris Venture Partners has invested in Living Proof Inc., a Cambridge-based biomaterials company led by one of the firm’s general partners.

Living Proof raised $7 million in Series A-3 funding, website PE Hub reported. Amir Nashat, who was named a general partner at Polaris last year, is acting president of the biomaterials startup, which remains cloaked in secrecy but boasts big-name board members such as MIT professor Robert Langer.

The Cambridge startup, previously called Andora Inc., closed a $4 million tranche of its first round of venture financing last year.

Nashat, who joined Polaris in 2002, was named a partner last year. He helped Polaris deliver a portfolio-company sale worth $415 million, and he was the founding president of Cambridge biotech Pervasis Therapeutics Inc., which develops cell-based treatments to regenerate injured blood vessels. He now serves with Langer on the board of directors of Pervasis.

Last year, Nashat led Polaris’ investment in an early-stage company Langer co-founded called Bind Biosciences Inc., a Cambridge startup advancing nanoparticles to deliver treatments for cancer. In addition, Nashat was on the board of directors of Polaris-backed Adnexus Therapeutics Inc. of Waltham when it revealed plans in late September to be acquired by New York-based drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. for $415 million.

Polaris, which was founded in 1996, also operates an office in Seattle. During 2007, Polaris and Atlas Venture, which is also based in Waltham, topped the list of the most active investors in New England, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.