Greensboro biotech firm Novalent cleans up with $11M in equity funding from 712 investors

GREENSBORO – Novalent Biotech, Inc., a Greensboro-headquartered biotechnology company that developed what it calls a “revolutionary” antimicrobial sanitizer that can inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi for up to 90 days, has raised $11 million in equity financing from 712 investors, according to an SEC filing.

According to the filing, the company will pay $990,000 in commissions to OpenDeal Broker LLC, and the minimum investment made by any investor was $10,000.

The company raised funds through Republic, a private investing platform that enables privately held companies to raise investment through crowdfunding the investment round, with the corresponding webpage listing the total raised “with Republic” as $10,263,973 and the company’s valuation as about $67 million.

The Republic webpage describes the company’s funding round as a “Series B” and notes that it is the company’s first external raise. The company’s SEC filing is the first filed with the agency.

Alex Ovchar, who is described as “a lead investor of PE-backed Novalent” in a podcast episode on which Ovchar appears discussing the company, signed the SEC filing and is noted as secretary and director.

On the filing, the company chose to decline disclosing its revenues. But on its Republic webpage, the company disclosed nearly $7.7 million in revenue with a net loss of about $3.2 million in the calendar year of 2020, up from revenues of nearly $2.2 million and a net loss of about $2.5 million in 2019.

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Here’s how the company described itself on the Republic webpage: “Novalent is a US biotechnology firm on a mission to engineer long-lasting antimicrobial protection for surfaces, skin, and clothing. Founded by leading antimicrobial scientists in 1998, our team invested two decades into proprietary, patented research before launching our technology in 2019. The groundbreaking result is a spray-on product that continuously inhibits bacteria and other microorganisms on surfaces for up to 90 days.”

The company describes the Novālent® antimicrobial’s mode of action as an “alternative approach” to “traditional sanitizers” on its website, stating that traditional sanitizer products stop working when they dry, and that microorganisms can regrow the moment they become reintroduced to the surface.

According to the website, the company’s customers own or operate brands that include Hanes, Pepsi, Starbucks, and Sabra. The website also includes instructions pertaining to the company product’s use as a protectant, but not a virucide or disinfectant, in fighting against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The company serves customers in food service, fitness and recreation, hospitality, healthcare, fleet, commercial transportation, and animal health, according to its website.

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According to the Republic webpage, the company is chaired by Bill Massa, who has served as the CEO of five different private equity firms, including The Blackstone Group and The Carlyle Group, and has served as the executive chair and operating partner for 10 portfolio companies with a combined value in excess of $10 billion.

Other previous backers include Rickard Gardell and Simon Pillar, the co-founders and senior managing directors of Pacific Equity Partners, the largest private equity firm in Australia, and Sam Zell, the founder and CEO of Equity Residential, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the United States, as well as the CEO of iNova, Dan Spira, the company’s Republic webpage states.

Kevin Parrish is listed as the company’s CEO, and appears listed as a director and executive on the company’s SEC filing. According to Parrish’s LinkedIn profile, he served as the senior vice president and general manager of global business for MicroBan until September 2017 when he joined Novalent. Parrish attended East Carolina University and earned an MBA at Wake Forest University, according to the LinkedIn profile.

Neither Parrish nor Ovchar