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Roughly a week after announcing its plans for an initial public offering, Verastem Inc. has raised $20 million through a Series C equity placement, according to a federal document.
A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that there are 34 unnamed backers in this round of funding for Cambridge-based Verastem. This new $20 million round is only the second one the company has filed data on with the SEC, although its most recent round, a $32 million funding in July, was described by the company as a Series B. That round was led by Advanced Technology Ventures and Astellas Venture Management, with participation from return backers Longwood Founders Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cardinal Partners and MPM Capital.
According to Verastem, in the release associated with the planned IPO, the company raised $16 million in a Series A round, which brings the total invested in the company to approximately $68 million. The planned IPO, announced by Verastem earlier this month, is expected to raise up to $50 million for the company. A message left with Verastem was not immediately returned.
Verastem noted in its S-1 filing for its planned IPO that it would be closing a Series C round in November, and that some of its financials - including total equity value as of Sept. 30, 2011 - reflected that anticipated fundraise.
The new round lists as related persons Richard Aldrich of Longwood, John Clarke of Cardinal, Ansbert Gadicke of MPM and Stephen Kraus of Bessemer, among others, all directors. One of those others is board member Henri Termeer, former long-time head of Genzyme Corp., who joined the Verastem board in June.
Leading Verastem is CEO Christoph Westphal, founder of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. Westphal left his position as president of GlaxoSmithKline’s venture investing arm in April. He is also the co-founder of Longwood Founders Fund, a Boston-based venture capital firm, which is the largest investor in Verastem with 15 percent of its shares. The company is focused on treating cancer by targeting cancer stem cells.
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