iPierian Nabs $22M, Names New CEO

Luke Timmerman7/8/10

iPierian, the South San Francisco-based developer of stem cell technology for drug discovery, said today it has raised $22 million in a Series B venture financing. Google Ventures led the round, which included Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, ATEL Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Highland Capital Partners, MPM Capital, and FinTech Global Capital. In connection with the financing, Michael Venuti is being promoted from president and chief scientific officer to CEO, replacing John Walker, who will remain a senior advisor. I profiled iPierian and its strategy to become a drug developer based on stem cell technology last month.

Luke Timmerman is the National Biotech Editor of Xconomy, and the Editor of Xconomy Seattle. E-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ldtimmerman.