Anzu Partners Monthly Newsletter: June 2024
Anzu Partners
We are an investment firm that focuses on early stage companies with breakthrough industrial & life sciences technology
Hi Anzu Partners Community,
This is Jimmy Kan, Partner at Anzu Partners, and Evan Kay, Co-Founder at Navier AI, highlighting Anzu’s recent investment in Navier AI . Navier AI is a San Francisco-based company that is revolutionizing real-time computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with advanced physics-ML models.?
CFD simulations are essential in modern engineering, shaping everything from energy generation systems to race cars to everyday appliances like hair dryers. This class of simulation software is a powerful, yet specialized part of the engineering process, often using advanced numerical methods to simulate how air and water interact with objects in different environments and conditions to reliably estimate performance before building physical prototypes.
While CFD simulations are critical to engineered products, incumbent numerical methods have serious constraints – they’re costly, specialized, and slow.?Today’s CFD simulations are often run in data centers, where high-fidelity simulations can require 100s of CPU-cores and several days of simulation time. The cross-team, resource-intense process of running a simulation bottlenecks engineering design cycles and hinders innovation.
Navier AI develops groundbreaking engineering software that combines the best-known simulation techniques with emerging capabilities from machine learning and generative AI. Navier AI's physics-ML models are pre-trained on high-fidelity simulated and experimental data, ensuring reliable and generalizable performance across fluid domains and geometries. The core product is an easy-to-use web application powered by the physics-ML solver, enabling any engineer to quickly assess fluid dynamics performance and gain insights with fast CFD in the cloud. Between its proprietary model, dataset and integrated web application, Navier AI is able to overcome the limitations of traditional numerical simulations.
Beyond overcoming the limitations of traditional approaches, real-time CFD unlocks new engineering workflows and innovation. Physics-ML enables the era of computational engineering, in which trustworthy physics simulators can perform simulation-driven design. Engineers are now empowered to explore massive design spaces, test new ideas and optimize at unprecedented speed. Recently, Navier AI partnered with Rescale?to bring physics AI to the Rescale platform, enabling end automation of the design and analysis loop.??
Navier AI was founded by Evan Kay and? Cameron Flannery , two former SpaceX rocket scientists and UCSD alumni. They first joined forces nearly a decade ago to start a rocket club and have since built both hardware and software at top engineering companies. Cameron has previously built rocket engines, satellites, hydrofoiling containerships, and autonomous trucks. Prior to Navier AI, Evan 3D printed rocket engines, manufactured drones and was an integral part of the investment team at Anzu Partners, supporting fund operations and portfolio companies like Niron Magnetics, e-Zinc, and XGS Energy.
Evan brings a unique perspective, having been deeply involved in the venture capital world, navigating multiple startups through their fundraising and early commercialization stages. Evan’s insider knowledge of the startup ecosystem and strategic acumen, honed through his years at Anzu, have been pivotal in steering Navier AI towards its successful launch and first fundraise as the company emerged from Y Combinator .??
Sincerely,
Jimmy Kan, Partner at Anzu Partners and Evan Kay, Co-Founder at Navier AI (and Anzu alum)
Portfolio Company Updates
6K and Niron Magnetics Named to Silicon Valley Defense Group's NATSEC100 List
We are excited to share that two Anzu portfolio companies – 6K and Niron Magnetics – were named to the Silicon Valley Defense Group 2024 NATSEC100 list!
The NATSEC100 is an annual ranked list of leading venture-funded, national security-focused and dual-use startups. 6K, Niron, and the other companies on this list are leading startups that are particularly well-positioned to deliver critically needed capabilities to the U.S. national security apparatus. Congratulations to the 6K and Niron Magnetics teams on this accomplishment.
e-Zinc Raised $31M in Series A2 Funding to Advance Commercialization Initiatives
e-Zinc , the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced it has raised an additional $31 million in follow-on funding to its?$25 million Series A round. This oversubscribed Series A2 round was led by?Evok Innovations, with additional investments from?Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,?Export Development Canada (EDC), and?Ultratech Capital Partners. e-Zinc’s existing shareholders also participated, including?Toyota Ventures,?Eni Next,?Anzu Partners,?BDC, and?Graphite Ventures.
e-Zinc plans to use this financing to accelerate product development and complete the construction of its 42,000 sq. ft pilot manufacturing facility in Mississauga, Ontario.
The news was covered by Fortune Term Sheet, Battery Power Online, BetaKit, EE Online and more.
Read the press release here.
6K Additive Announced New Distribution and Agent Partners to Expand International Reach
6K Additive, a division of? 6K , announced the company is partnering with several distributors and agents to create a network of commercial partners internationally. Broder Metals Group?will distribute material in the UK and Ireland; materials in India will be distributed by?Advance Metal Powder; Infotron/Plastosel will cover Turkey, and?Intelligent AM will supply in Israel, UAE and Saudi Arabia. The company will selectively add distributors and agents based on growing market demand.
Nick Pflugh, Chief Commercial Officer for 6K Additive, said in the press release, “Having local professionals who not only understand the customer requirements but also understand materials and applications for metal additive manufacturing is crucial to support the international market. Our new network of agents and distributors each excel at helping customers qualify the right material for the right application. We are excited to welcome them to the extended team of 6K Additive.”
The news was covered in ADS Advance.
Read the press release here.
Niron Magnetics Hosted Several Key Minnesota Government Officials to Highlight Recent Progress
Throughout the month of June, the Niron Magnetics, Inc. team hosted a number of local Minnesota government officials at its facilities in northeast Minneapolis.
Senator Amy Klobuchar visited to discuss Niron’s plan to continue supporting the country’s clean and green efforts and received a live demo of its Clean Earth Magnet? technology.
The team also hosted Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to discuss the long-standing relationship between the City of Minneapolis and Niron, and their joint commitment to supporting local job growth, clean energy, and supply security.
Most recently, Niron invited its local Minnesota investors, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) to tour its facilities and present an update on recent commercial and technical progress.
OTI Lumionics Partnered with Nord Quantique to Test New Quantum Computing Applications for Material Science
OTI Lumionics , a leader in the development of production-ready advanced materials for consumer electronics, and? Nord Quantique , a quantum computing company with the industry’s most advanced quantum error correction, announced a strategic partnership focused on electronic structure calculations, vibronic spectra and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) using quantum simulations. The objective of this testing is to identify improved efficiencies for the development of advanced materials with potential applications in multiple industries beyond display, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals.
NGen, an innovation cluster whose Advanced Manufacturing Quantum Program supports the commercialization of quantum technologies, awarded the partners $2 million CAD ($1.5 million USD). The companies will use the funding to hire and grow their teams, source equipment, and carry out the necessary testing.
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This partnership was covered by insideHPC, Quantum Computing Report, OLED Info, Electronic Products & Technology and more.
Read the press release here.
GelSight Partnered with PRAGMA on Integrated Solution for Nondestructive Testing
GelSight , a pioneer in tactile intelligence technology, announced a new partnership with? PRAGMA , a leader in nondestructive evaluation (NDE) 4.0 technologies, to provide integrated solutions to the nondestructive testing (NDT) market. The joint solution incorporates?GelSight’s tactile sensing technology?directly into the?PragmaFlex?instrument platform, which is embedded with?Pragma3D?software, to provide more in-depth data and analysis of surface characteristics for NDE.
“We are excited about how this new integrated solution will improve fully automated NDT workflows,” said GelSight CEO Youssef Benmokhtar in the press release. “By combining GelSight tactile sensors with the PragmaFlex platform, users now have access to micrometer-level measurement data that can be fused with data from different modalities for deeper surface inspection and analysis.”
The news was covered by Metrology News and Quality Digest.
Read the press release here.
Xendee Released its 2024 Commercial EV Charging Survey Insights
Xendee , a provider of design and operation platform capabilities for distributed energy systems and Electric Vehicle (EV) fast-charging infrastructure, released the findings of its 2024 Commercial EV Charging Market Survey, the second in the series of annual research studies, conducted in partnership with Endeavor Business Intelligence.
Three-quarters of respondents said electric utility grid limitations were a “significant roadblock to the rollout of EV charging infrastructure for commercial EV usage,” while 63% tabbed the total cost of charging infrastructure as a significant roadblock. Moreover, respondents overwhelming identified microgrid and distributed energy resources (DERs) co-located with EV charging infrastructure as the game-changing technology for stimulating the commercial EV transition.
These findings will guide further development and features of the Xendee SaaS platform to provide research-based solutions to its clients for the feasibility, design, and operation of EV charging infrastructure projects.?
The survey was covered by Utility Dive, Microgrid Knowledge, Clean Fleet Report, EV Engineering, Renewable Energy World and more.
Read the press release here.
Adaptive Surface Technologies Applauded New Legislation for Naval Vessels to Transition from Copper-based Antifouling Coatings by 2028
Adaptive Surface Technologies, Inc. , a spinout of Harvard University, welcomed legislation?passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that directs the U.S. Navy to transition away from copper-based antifouling coatings by January 1, 2028. The legislation was passed as part of the?Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025.
This measure is a major step forward to reduce operational costs for the U.S. Navy and to increase environmental stewardship of U.S. coastal regions. AST’s copper-free anti-fouling coatings have been subjected to more than 60 months of testing and demonstrated superior anti-fouling performance at international testing sites. Naval vessels typically have drydock schedules that are on 60-month cycles, making AST’s copper-free anti-fouling technology the only foul release coating that has third-party testing data showing superior performance to Hempel’s X3 and Akzo Nobel’s BRA-640 or 1100SR.
Read the press release here.
Anzu Partners Life Sciences Portfolio Companies at BIO 2024
On June 3-6, several Anzu life sciences portfolio companies attended the 2024 BIO International Convention in San Diego. BIO is the largest and most comprehensive event for biotechnology, representing the full ecosystem of biotech with more than 18,500?industry leaders from across the globe.
Nature's Toolbox, Inc. (NTx) exhibited at the conference as part of the NMBio booth. The team shared details on its NTxscribe??solution and how it can support the growing demand for mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics.
NanoCellect Biomedical, Inc. CTO and Co-Founder, Sunghwan Cho spoke on a panel event led by Illumina Ventures at the conference as well.
Leaders from ImmunoScape and InterVenn Biosciences also attended the conference to meet with potential investors and industry collaborators.
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Anzu Partners is an investment firm that focuses on industrial and life science technology companies with the potential to transform their industries. Anzu works with entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize technological innovations by providing capital alongside deep expertise in business development, market positioning, intellectual property, global connectivity, and operations. For more information, please visit: https://www.anzupartners.com/
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The information contained in this newsletter is being provided by Anzu Partners for informational purposes only. The information was obtained from various sources, but Anzu Partners cannot assure its accuracy. This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation for an offer to buy an interest in any fund managed by Anzu Partners. Any such offer or solicitation will only be made to qualified potential investors pursuant to a private placement memorandum. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.