Ferring to Buy Austin Biotech Gameto for Up to $1.38B; Swarmer Adds Ukrainian Drone IP
A Swiss drugmaker makes a billion-dollar bet on an Austin fertility startup, Swarmer keeps building out its drone hardware lineup, and Austin signs a robotics and AI pact with Finland’s Tampere.
Swiss biopharmaceutical group Ferring Pharmaceuticals agreed Tuesday to acquire Austin-based Gameto, a women’s health biotech developing a faster, lower-hormone approach to IVF and egg freezing, in a deal worth up to $1.38 billion. Nasdaq-listed Swarmer, an Austin drone software company, agreed to buy intellectual property from Ukrainian drone maker Vataga Drone days before shareholders vote on its larger Ratel Robotics acquisition. Also this week: Austin and Tampere, Finland, announced a five-year technology partnership; former SXSW president Hugh Forrest joined startup Erisian; Austin-based SAGINT signed a critical minerals partnership; and Micro Center set a Nov. 13 opening for its Austin store.
Ferring Agrees to Acquire Gameto in Deal Worth Up to $1.38 Billion
Ferring Pharmaceuticals has signed an agreement to acquire Gameto, BioPharma Dive reported Tuesday. Endpoints News put the deal’s potential value at up to $1.3825 billion. Ferring did not disclose the upfront payment, and the rest depends on development, regulatory, and sales milestones. The companies will operate independently until the deal closes. No closing date was given.
Gameto’s lead product, Fertilo, uses ovarian support cells derived from stem cells to mature eggs outside the body. The company says the approach can reduce hormone injections and shorten IVF and egg-freezing cycles to as little as three days. Fertilo is cleared in Australia and parts of Latin America and is in Phase 3 testing in the U.S. Gameto is also developing Deovo, a lab model of the female reproductive system for drug discovery, and Ameno, a cell therapy aimed at delaying menopause.
Founded in 2020, Gameto has raised $127 million, according to BioPharma Dive. CEO and co-founder Dina Turner said the deal would help “bring more modern fertility treatment options to women and families.” The sale gives the Austin area a billion-dollar life sciences exit in the fast-growing women’s health category.
Swarmer Buys Ukrainian Drone IP as Ratel Vote Nears
Swarmer Inc. (Nasdaq: SWMR), an Austin-headquartered defense technology company, said Tuesday it signed an agreement to acquire certain intellectual property from Ukrainian drone company Vataga Drone. The undisclosed price will be paid in cash and equity, according to a company release.
Founded in 2023 and based in Kyiv, Vataga designs and builds first-person-view strike drones and develops counter-drone interceptor systems. Swarmer is buying its FPV airframe designs, initiation electronics, ground-control equipment, development tooling, and manufacturing documentation. After the deal closes, Vataga CEO Maksym Melnyk and 14 hardware R&D staff will join Swarmer, with Melnyk becoming vice president of hardware. Vataga will keep operating as an independent manufacturer. “Bringing battle-tested hardware capabilities in-house means we can create reliable full-stack solutions,” Swarmer President and U.S. CEO Alex Fink said.
The agreement comes ahead of a Nov. 2 virtual shareholder meeting on Swarmer’s larger pending purchase of Ukrainian ground-robot maker Ratel Robotics, which the company will discuss on an Oct. 29 investor call. According to Swarmer’s September release, that cash-and-stock deal is worth up to $224 million with earnouts and would add more than 300 Ratel employees.
Swarmer sells software that lets one operator control many autonomous drones and unmanned systems from different manufacturers. Together, the two deals push it into hardware and add to Austin’s cluster of drone and counter-drone companies. This month alone, Austin Sensing Co. disclosed $15 million in funding and Stellios Technologies emerged from stealth.
Austin, Tampere Sign Five-Year Robotics and AI Partnership
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Tampere Mayor Ilmari Nurminen signed a five-year memorandum of understanding at Austin City Hall on Friday, Oct. 23, KXAN reported Monday. The agreement commits the cities to promoting economic growth, with an emphasis on robotics, AI, and advanced manufacturing, as well as business networking, research ties, and workforce development.
The pact is a framework, not a funded program. Focus areas also include semiconductors, defense and dual-use technology, and startups, and Hoodline says annual goals are still to be set. “Our goal is a practical partnership with an impact that extends beyond both cities,” Nurminen said, according to KXAN. The signing coincided with a visit by a Finnish physical AI delegation, which toured Apptronik and Plug and Play in Cedar Park and is attending Austin Tech Week.
Former SXSW President Hugh Forrest Joins Erisian
Hugh Forrest has joined Erisian as a strategic partner for community and convening and as a founding shareholder, according to a Tuesday release. Erisian, a Toronto-based company led by founder and CEO Eva Oloumi, calls itself a comparative intelligence platform. It maps where competing narratives, assumptions, and logic agree or diverge, and it traces the sources behind its conclusions. The company uses strategic foresight, scenario planning, negotiation, and geopolitics.
Forrest said Erisian reminded him of the cross-disciplinary connections he saw at SXSW. “What caught my attention about Erisian is that same respect for difference,” he said. Forrest directed SXSW’s interactive festival for years and served as chief programming officer before becoming president from 2022 to 2025. He also runs Gather & Grow Experiences.
SAGINT Partners With ADI Foundation on Critical Minerals Tracking
Austin-based SAGINT, which issues digital warehouse receipts for physical commodities, announced a global partnership Tuesday with Abu Dhabi’s ADI Foundation to bring its technology to the ADI Chain blockchain network, according to a joint release. The receipts track a mineral lot’s origin, quantity, custody, and assay data from producer to buyer, aiming to make critical minerals easier to finance, insure, and trade. ADI Foundation becomes SAGINT’s exclusive channel partner in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Micro Center Sets Nov. 13 Opening for First Austin Store
Computer and electronics retailer Micro Center said Monday its store at 12707 N. MoPac Expressway will open Nov. 13 with more than 100 employees, according to a company release. The site is the former Fry’s Electronics building, which Hoodline reported the Ohio-based chain had taken over in December 2025. It will be Micro Center’s 31st U.S. store and its third in Texas. “Austin is one of the most creative and technical cities in the country,” CEO Rick Mershad said.
Also in Silicon Hills
- Anthropic files for IPO: The AI company filed an S-1 Monday to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker “ANT.” In November 2025, Anthropic said its $50 billion U.S. data center buildout with Fluidstack would start in Texas and New York.
- Austin Tech Week continues: Startup, investor and community events run through Friday, Oct. 30. Details are at austintech.com.
Only in Austin
Just in time for Halloween, Round Rock has its own resident monster. Local legend says a boy was separated from a group of 1800s settlers fleeing a flood in Brushy Creek. He grew up alone in the woods as a wild, hair-covered hermit who frightened stagecoaches and riders on the road that now bears his name: Hairy Man Road. Versions differ on how he died. He was trampled by horses, hanged on a vine, or drowned, but his body was never found, KUT reported. These days, the area marks the legend with an annual fall Hairy Man Festival that includes a “Hairiest Man” contest.