Stelis concludes $195 million Series B and Series C fund raise

Stelis Biopharma (Stelis) announced that it has successfully concluded its Series B and Series C fund raise for a cumulative amount of $195 million.

Details on the fund raise:

• Stelis as part of its Series B issue will raise $70 million from existing investors at the current pre-money valuation of $155 million through partly paid shares

• Family office of Promoters to lead the funding round with $ 56 million commitment of which $ 15 million will be invested immediately, Strides to subscribe the balance $14 million

• The company has raised an additional $125 million through Series C funding round including a primary infusion of $85 million in the company and a secondary placement of $40 million for GMS Holdings, their existing shareholder

• Funding round led by TPG Growth followed by other long-term investors namely, Route One, Think Investments and the Mankekar Family

• Post money valuation for the business pegged at ~$350 million

The proceeds under the capital raise will be utilised as follows

• Completion of last-mile CAPEX for the CDMO business including setting up of 6KL mammalian block, ramp-up of process development lab and other technical capabilities

• Accelerating the vaccine block infrastructure with the ability to cater to multiple vaccine types including viral vector, protein subunit, RNA and DNA

• Debt servicing and other general corporate purposes

Post completion on Series C fund raise, Strides to hold 33 per cent (Pre-ESOP) in Stelis with its investment valued at $ 116 million Strides will demerge and list its biopharma business under Stelis on a standalone basis. The transaction is subject to approval from shareholders, meeting customary closing conditions and is expected to achieve closure in over 12 months

Commenting on the development, Arun Kumar, Founder of Strides Group, remarked, “We are delighted with current round of capital raise at Stelis led by TPG Growth along with Route One, Think Investments and the Mankekar family. I am extremely thankful to Matt Hobart and Ankur Thadani from TPG Growth, Bill Duhamel and Justin Maletsky from Route One, Shashin Shah from Think Investments, Shivanand and Kedar from the Mankekar family for their trust in our leadership. We are pleased that GMS will continue to be our shareholder post the secondary placement. Stelis is now getting into its growth phase and is witnessing strong customer traction for its CDMO offerings including Vaccines. We are confident to build a sustainable business and deliver significant value for our shareholders.”