A profile of three Emeryville-based businesses and individuals that are making headlines. The first is Lauren Geremia who operates out of a live-work studio in Emeryville where she designs commercial, residential, and event spaces including the corporate offices of Dropbox and Rdio. Geremia was named by Forbes Magazine’s annual “30 Under 30: Art & Design” list in 2011 honoring those under 30 who are making a mark in the world of art and design. She’s also been recently featured in the architecture and design magazine Metropolis.

Also profiled is recently acquired Plum Organics which is in midst of expanding its Park Avenue Headquarters. The company’s CEO Neil Grimmer speaks candidly with SF Gate regarding its pursuit to change its legal status to a benefit corporation despite potential legal risk to its new parent company, New Jersey based Campbell Soup Company.

Eureka Therapeutics Inc., which was founded by former Chiron principal scientist Cheng Liu, has secured $21 million in C round financing from a variety of investors and venture capital firms including a large Chinese-owned equity firm. Eureka is developing antibodies engineered to mimic the function of a T cell receptor in an attempt to jumpstart the immune system to fight a range of cancers.

Emeryville Based Interior Designer: Lauren Geremia

Lauren Geremia of Geremia Design has an impressive roster of commercial and residential interior spaces she has designed under her belt. Chances are you have sipped cocktails in one of these establishments (aka Churchill or Bloodhound) or maybe even lucky enough to visit (or work!) at one of these SF tech start-up (ie. Rdio, Dropbox, Lumosity). So it’s no surprise that she has been voted a Forbes “30 under 30” once you have seen her modern-meets-handmade designs. It’s also no surprise that she has a house/office space that is to die for all in little ol’ Emeryville. (Hello indoor pool!)

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Plum Organics’ quest to do good poses legal risk to Campbell Soup

Photo: Leah Millis / The Chronicle

Days after completing the biggest deal of his life, Neil Grimmer was about to ask his new employer to do something that could expose it to shareholder lawsuits.
It was June 2013 and food giant Campbell Soup Co. had just paid millions of dollars to buy Plum Organics in Emeryville, the healthy baby food maker founded and led by Grimmer. In his first sit-down with Mark Alexander, president of Campbell North America, Grimmer made his unexpected request.
“I was nervous,” Grimmer recalled. “He was, after all, my new boss.”

Read More on SFGate.com →

Eureka Therapeutics lands $21M from Chinese, other investors

Cancer therapy developer Eureka Therapeutics Inc. snagged $21 million in a Series C round led by Chinese private equity firm Yuan Capital.
The funding round, which included previous investors Acorn Campus Ventures, Suma Venture and Harbinger Venture Capital, will be used to expand the Emeryville company’s cancer immunotherapy portfolio and take its lead programs into human clinical trials.
Yuan, based in Beijing, is becoming a more active investor in the Bay Area. It was one of a handful of investors in Radius, a business-to-business marketing company that recently landed a $54.7 million Series C round.

Read More on San Francisco Business Times →