ANTABIO and WiSEED announce the completion of the first successful round of crowdfunding applied to biotech start-up financing

ANTABIO and WiSEED announce the completion of the first successful round of crowdfunding applied to biotech start-up financing

Labège, France, October 1st, 2012. ANTABIO, the biopharmaceutical antibacterial drug discovery company, and WiSEED, the French crowdfunding platform dedicated to innovative & technologic startups, announce the successful completion of their seed round of financing with a profitable exit of the initial small investors, a world premiere in the field of crowdfunding applied to biotech start-up financing.

"It is the very first complete virtuous circle for crowdfunding applied to biotech start-ups" explain Nicolas Seres and Thierry Merquiol, founders of WiSEED. Initially funded by more than 200 small investors, ANTABIO's seed funding round allowed the company to finance a key step in the validation of its drug candidate molecules.

"WiSEED's innovative crowdfunding process allowed us to complete ANTABIO's seed financing in a record time. The success of this first round had a rapid leveraging effect: a second investment from a business angel further funded the development of our drug candidates, which in turn aroused the interest of a major industrial player in the drug discovery arena. Today, WiSEED's exit with a significant return is a fair reward of the risk taken by being our initial investors" stresses Marc Lemonnier, CEO and founder of ANTABIO. "This is a world-premiere encouraging the emergence of a new seed funding model for innovative biopharmaceutical startup companies".

"Beyond the return on investment, this deal is emblematic of the relevance of crowdfunding. It allowed setting the wheels in motion at a time when most financial actors decline the opportunity because of the high risk and relatively small amounts at stake. It fosters a cascade of wealth-creation that allows entrepreneurs to focus on their business and core expertise. However, it is important to quickly reward small investors and keep them focused on this seed phase so that they can reinvest in another project, to reinitiate a novel entrepreneurial adventure" states Nicolas Seres, managing director of WiSEED.

"Based on this success-story applied to start-up seed funding, the path is open for a genuine revolution in the investment landscape: venture-capital 2.0 is underway!" concludes Thierry Merquiol, CEO of WiSEED, proud of this world premiere.
About ANTABIO: ANTABIO is a Labège, France-based start-up biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery of novel drugs to treat and prevent antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. Based on its patented technology and unique know-how, ANTABIO develops first-in-class small molecule compounds that will offer a synergistic solution to the shortfall of antibiotics to treat severe nosocomial infections as well as community-acquired conditions like urinary tract infections. The company is currently engaged in developing novel anti-resistance compounds that will partner antibiotics for them to regain their activity against multi- or pan-drug resistant Gram-negative pathogens such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) NDM-1 bacteria. ANTABIO also owns a proprietary antivirulence technology to characterize compounds that can treat and p revent infections caused by virulent and multi-drug resistant bacteria. www.antabio.com

ANTABIO • Biostep • 436 rue Pierre et Marie Curie • 31670 LABEGE - FRANCE
www.antabio.com
About WISEED: WiSEED is a French crowdfunding platform dedicated to innovative & technologic startups, offering a new
investment horizon in sustainable, responsible, performance-driven start-up companies. Its originality: investments can be
made directly online. With a few clicks, each private investor can become a shareholder of selected companies, starting
from 100€. www.wiseed.fr
Press Contact:
ANTABIO WiSEED
Ms. Delphine Ortega M. Nicolas Seres
Tel. + 33 5 31 47 18 57 Tel. +33 5 31 61 62 63
[email protected] [email protected]
www.antabio.com www.wiseed.fr