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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 29, 2026 31 The Lists CONNECTICUT'S LARGEST VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS Ranked by transaction amount, then latest transaction (1) Movers & Shakers The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford has named Detroit nonprofit executive Alise Dixon its next president and CEO. Dixon, who most recently was chief program officer for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Detroit, will lead the Hartford-based nonprofit starting on July 13. She replaces Bruce W. Jeffery, who was appointed CEO in March 2025 but resigned and stepped down in January. Dixon began her career with Boys & Girls Clubs in 2007 as a part-time dance instructor in Dayton, Ohio, and has held leadership posi- tions at local clubs and with the national organization. Danbury-based Union Savings Bank has elected seven new corporators to its governing body. The new corporators are Matthew Bedoukian, vice president of external research partnerships at Bedoukian Research; Katherine McKean Curran, president and CEO of Connecticut Institute for Communities; Lisa Esneault, managing director of marketing, communications and strategy at Regional Hospice; William Hoadley, owner and vice president of H&Y Construction; Grace Linhard, chief development officer for North- well/Nuvance Health; Benjamin Marcus, director at Soundview Real Estate Partners; and Joseph McCluskey, proprietor of Rein Osteria. Richard F. Vitarelli, a principal at labor and employment law firm Jackson Lewis P.C., has been appointed chair of the Associated General Contractors of America Labor and Employment Law Council for a one-year term ending April 30, 2027. Vitarelli co-leads Jackson Lewis' Labor Relations and Transactional Services groups, is a member of the firm's Construction group and serves on its board of directors. He has more than 30 years of experience repre- senting employers in labor relations, collective bargaining, employee relations and employment matters, with a focus on the construction and infrastructure sectors. Craig M. Crews, a scientist and entrepreneur at Yale University, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Yale Founders Award, which recognizes innovators whose work has had a significant impact on science, medi- cine and entrepreneurship. Crews is the John C. Malone Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale, and serves as executive director of the Yale Center for Molecular Discovery. He is credited with pioneering targeted protein degradation, a break- through drug-development approach that uses the body's natural processes to eliminate disease-causing proteins. He also helped launch several biotech- nology companies, including New Haven-based Arvinas. Michael Nark has been named CEO of Extra Duty Solutions, a Shel- ton-based provider of scheduling and management software for off-duty law enforcement and public safety agencies. Nark succeeds company founder Rich Milliman, who will transition from CEO to board chairman. Nark has more than 30 years of experience leading technology and software companies. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Utility Inc., a provider of digital evidence manage- ment and mobile resource manage- ment technology for law enforcement agencies and first responders. Natalie Braswell has been appointed interim chancellor and Ari Santiago interim chair of the Board of Regents for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system, the state's public higher education network serving about 66,000 students. Braswell currently serves as Gov. Ned Lamont's general counsel and previously served as Connecticut state comptroller. She succeeds former Chancellor John Maduko, who resigned in April amid an independent review related to harassment allegations. Santiago, a West Hartford entre- preneur and business executive, has served on the Board of Regents since 2020. Prior to his appointment as interim chair, he was vice chair of the board's Finance and Infrastructure Committee and a member of its Technology Committee. Former board Chair Martin Guay also recently resigned. Anthony Freve has been named chief supply chain officer of Edgewell Personal Care Co., a Shelton-based consumer products manufacturer whose brands include Schick, Banana Boat and Wet Ones. Freve succeeds Paul Hibbert, who stepped down from the role on June 1. Freve joins Edgewell as the company expands a restructuring initiative. Richard F. Vitarelli Alise Dixon Craig M. Crews Ari Santiago Connecticut's largest venture capital deals Ranked by transaction amount, then latest transaction ((11)) Company Industry/ products and services Funding amount/ type/ transaction date Sample of investors or post-IPO details Head of company 1 Synchrony Financial Stamford synchrony.com Finance Consumer lending $500,000,000 Post-IPO equity June 2026 Perpetual depositary share offering Brian D. Doubles President & CEO 2 Veradermics Inc. New Haven veradermics.com Biotechnology and healthcare Novel drug delivery mechanisms in dermatology $384,400,000 Post-IPO equity April 2026 Upsized public offering of 3,843,790 shares of common stock Reid Waldman CEO 3 Biohaven Pharmaceutical New Haven biohaven.com Biotechnology Drugs targeting neurological diseases $200,000,000 Post-IPO equity Nov. 2025 Upsized, underwritten public offering of 26,833,334 shares of common stock Vladimir Coric CEO 4 Trevi Therapeutics New Haven trevitherapeutics.com Biotechnology Haduvio chronic cough drug $173,000,000 Post-IPO equity April 2026 Underwritten public offering of 13,340,000 shares of common stock Jennifer Good Co-founder, president & CEO 5 Veradermics Inc. New Haven veradermics.com Biotechnology and healthcare Novel drug delivery mechanisms in dermatology $150,000,000 Series C Oct. 2025 SR One, Viking Global Investors, Suvretta Capital Management, Surveyor Capital, Longitude Capital, LifeSci Venture Partners, Invus, Infinitum Reid Waldman CEO 6 Ellington Financial Old Greenwich ellingtonfinancial.com Finance Asset management for mortgage, corporate and consumer related investments $118,500,000 Post-IPO equity Jan. 2026 Public offering of 8.775 million shares of common stock Laurence Penn CEO 7 Talon Precision Stamford talonpx.com Manufacturing Precision machining platform focused on tight- tolerance, complex components $75,000,000 Private equity June 2026 Telos North, Strand Equity Partners, New Bearing, Eothen Jesse Reising Co-founder & CEO 8 Slide Westport slide.tech Information technology Business continuity & disaster recovery for managed service providers $70,000,000 Series B March 2026 General Catalyst, VineVentures, Top Down Ventures, Outsiders Fund, Glynn Capital Management, Futurepresent, Benchstrength, Base10 Partners Michael Fass Co-founder & CEO 9 XO Health Stamford xohealth.com Healthcare Health plan services for self-insured clients $52,238,668 Undisclosed Sept. 2025 Undisclosed Swati Mathai Co-founder & CEO 10 Bennie Stamford bennie.com Information technology and insurance Employee-benefits platform $50,000,000 Private equity Dec. 2025 LNC Partners Brett Davis CEO Source: Crunchbase and company websites and press releases. Note: N/A = Not available. (1) Deals completed from Jan. 1, 2025 to June 15, 2026 were considered for this list. -Compiled by Stephanie R. Meagher, research@nebusinessmedia.com