Michael K. Barron

Michael is passionate about working with early-stage companies and from the beginning of his legal career has promoted the development and growth of emerging technology and life sciences companies. In 1995, Michael founded the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX), a trade association to help promote the development and growth of the internet and digital technologies industry in New England. MITX serves more than 7,000 New England professionals involved in internet and digital technologies industry and is now part of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Michael has been a founder, board member, and advisor to a number of other trade associations focused on life sciences and digital healthcare, including The Antibody Society. In addition, Michael helped found Acera School, a K-10 STEM school in Winchester, Massachusetts, and serves on the school board.

Michael is recognized by Boston magazine as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer and is included in the Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America. He is also AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest designation available.

Financings

• Hush International, a developer of a smoke filtration device that eliminates fumes, odors and second hand carcinogens, in its $1.24 million Series Seed Preferred Stock financing
• Neutrolis, clinical-stage biotech company focusing on the treatment of inflammatory diseases, in its $40 million-plus Series A preferred stock financing round led by Morningside Venture Investments Limited
• Ikigai Labs, a computer software testing laboratory and computer software designer developing AI-charged spreadsheets for data operators who run mission-critical business processors using data, in its $12 million Series Seed Preferred Stock financing
• RenBio, a company focused on using its platform technology to change antibody therapeutics, in its $24 million Series A financing
• CEH Clean Energies Holding AG and Zernike Singapore LP in their $3 million Series A preferred financing of Spinn Inc., a company that produces Wi-Fi connected and mobile app controlled coffee makers that use centrifugal brewing technology and offers a coffee bean subscription service
• GTxcel Inc., a cloud-based publishing platform, in an $8 million Series D-1 and D-2 preferred stock and warrant financing as well as a venture debt loan of $1.5 million
• Neutrolis Inc., a preclinical stage biotech company focused on the treatment of inflammatory diseases, in its $3.6 million Series Seed Preferred Stock financing led by a group of private investors
• Curamir Therapeutics, a company focused on research and development of novel miRNA-based cancer therapeutics, in its $10 million Series A financing led by Delos Capital and the State of University of New York at Stony Brook
• Proterris Inc., a company that provides low-dose carbon monoxide therapeutics to treat a wide range of fibrotic, transplantation, and anti-inflammatory needs, in its $5 million Series A financing from Starr Foundation
• MindSciences, Inc., a mobile application in the health and wellness space, with programs based on mindfulness practice, in a follow-on Series A financing
• Ikigai Labs, Inc., an AI technology company in its $3 million convertible note financing from 8VC and Underscore
• X-Cor Therapeutics, a medical device company which offers a CO2 removal device for treatment of acute respiratory failure, in its $2 million Series Seed 1 financing led by AIS Equity Holdings
• Manus Bio, Inc., an MIT spin-out that recreates plant processes in microorganisms to produce natural ingredients through fermentation, in its Series B Preferred Stock financing led by BBGI Public Company Limited
• Wayfair LLC, a leading ecommerce company and New York Stock Exchange company, in its $165 million Series A financing from Battery Ventures, Great Hill Partners, HarbourVest Partners and Spark Capital – recognized as the largest venture capital financing closed in the United States in the second quarter of 2011 by The Boston Globe 
• Aras Corporation, a leading provider of PLM software solutions, in several financings, including: 
  
  • Series B Preferred Stock to current and new angel investors 
    
  • Series C Preferred Stock to Silver Lake Kraftwerk Fund, L.P., GE Ventures Limited and ANSYS, Inc. and other investors 
    
  • Series D Preferred Stock to Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Silver Lake Technology Investors Kraftwerk, L.P., GE Ventures Limited, ANSYS, Inc. and other investors
• New Science Ventures, a venture capital company, in several portfolio investments, including:        
  
  • $5 million Convertible Note and SAFE transactions with Ferric, Inc., a technology company specializing in power converter chips and circuit IP based on power inductors in both the mobile and cloud computing spaces
  • $16 million Series B financing of Pakal Technologies, Inc., a leader in advanced silicone-based power semiconductors
  • Lead investor in the $26 million Series B investment round of Phase Four, a disruptive provider of next generation electronic propulsion solutions for small satellites, including the high performance Maxwell engines
  • $19 million Series D financing of Dali Systems Co., a provider of digital wireless signal routing solutions
  • $114 million equity financing by its portfolio company, Ventyx Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing a broad pipeline of potent and selective small-molecule drug candidates to treat inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders
  • $20 million bridge financing and Series A1 financing of BrightVolt, Inc., a developer of embedded power solutions, offering its Flexion product portfolio of advanced ultra-thin, flexible, lithium polymer batteries for powered cards, RFID, and micro medical devices
  • Series A in Achronix Semiconductor Corporation 
  • Series D investment in BioScale, Inc. 
  • Series B investment in Dali Systems Co. Ltd. 
  • Series F investment in Ikonisys, Inc. 
  • Series D investment in Oxyrane UK Limited
• An early-stage biotechnology company in a series of private placements of its common stock raising $200 million prior to its IPO 

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Daros Inc., a biotech company spun out of Northeastern University with a portfolio of a new class of antibiotics and a platform for “intelligent screening” for antibiotics, in its sale to Odyssey Therapeutics, Inc.
• Manus Bio Inc. in a joint venture with BBGI Public Co. Ltd., a Thailand company, for the establishment of WIN Ingredients Co., LTD, a private limited company incorporated in Thailand that will build an advanced bio-manufacturing facility in Thailand
• Manus Bio Inc. in the acquisition of the assets of the NutraSweet Company
• Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange, a professional development organization for the internet and digital technologies industry, in its sale to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
• EmendoBio Inc., a next generation CRISPR gene editing company leveraging dual proprietary technology platforms to enable high precision gene editing throughout the genome, in its sale to AnGes Inc.  
• Celect, Inc., an artificial intelligence software company, in its acquisition by NIKE, Inc.
• Createthe Group, inc., a leading digital agency specializing in providing services to luxury and fashion brands, in its acquisition of Morpheus Media, which provides strategic digital media services including display media, paid search, natural search optimization, social media management, mobile and pay-for-performance marketing 
• Racepoint Group, Inc., a global public relations agency, in its acquisition of PPR Greater China, a leading integrated communications public relations company with headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore 
• Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc., a leading publisher of children’s books, in the purchase of all the assets of Imagine Publishing, Inc., including children’s books by musicians Neil Sedaka and Peter Yarrow 
• abeo Management Corporation, a healthcare billing services company, in its acquisition of several smaller healthcare billing services companies
• Wayfair LLC in its acquisition of Buyster Pty Ltd., an online retailer based in Australia 
• Digital Cement, Inc., a professional services firm that provides relationship management strategy and services to help companies acquire, retain, manage and grow their customer relationships, in its acquisition by Pitney Bowes, Inc. 
• Lexigen Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel cancer treatments, in its acquisition by Merck KGaA 
• eMed Technologies Corporation, a medical images technology company, in its acquisition by Cedara Software Corp. 
• ZapThink LLC, a recognized authority on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), in its acquisition by Dovèl Technologies, Inc. 

Intellectual Property

• RenBio in its exclusive license agreement with Columbia University for a biospecific COVID-19 antibody
• Negotiated a license agreement for the development of a novel treatment for HIV/AIDS between a small private biotechnology company and a large public biotechnology company 
• Negotiated a research, development, and license agreement providing $100 million in funding over a several year period between an early stage private biotechnology company and a large
• international pharmaceutical company to develop novel treatments for schizophrenia 
• Negotiated numerous patent license agreements between early stage biotechnology companies and universities 
• Negotiated a patient management and billing outsource agreement between a national healthcare company and a major computer services company 
• Software and internet companies in developing numerous license agreements, terms of service and privacy policies 
• A major technology company in managing a portfolio of trademarks 
• Developed a merchandise licensing program for a popular children’s character 
• Publishers and authors with respect to publishing agreements 
• A national law firm in establishing and growing a substantial trademark practice