Archive | July, 2014

Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 1: Single Family Office Seeking Global Opportunities in Brain Health

10 Jul

A Single Family Office based in the western United States makes seed-stage and venture-stage equity investments; typical seed investments are of $250,000-500,000 initially with the potential for follow-on financing of up to $3 million.  The firm is open to opportunities worldwide, and currently has portfolio companies in North America, Europe and Oceania.

The firm focuses on brain health, with 80% of the fund’s investments occurring in this indication area.  The firm’s mandate encompasses both diseases of the nervous system and psychiatric disorders, with a particular interest in Alzheimer’s disease.  The firm is open to investing in therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices, and is interested in interdisciplinary approaches.  The firm seeks early-stage opportunities, but will also consider later-stage opportunities.  The firm’s prior investments include drug discovery for treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, and novel diagnostics including a tool that tracks early cognitive decline.

The firm strongly prefers to invest in privately held companies.  The firm only backs top scientists pursuing breakthrough approaches, and does not invest in “me-too” ideas.  In the medical technology sector the firm prefers to invest in companies developing platform technologies with multiple potential applications.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com

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Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 2: Health Insurance Provider Seeking Shipping Medical Devices/Diagnostics

10 Jul

A US based Health Insurance Provider makes investments in healthcare companies from an evergreen investment fund.  Allocation sizes are highly varied, but are most often $3-5 million.  While the firm is open to opportunities globally, the organization only invests in companies that are targeting the US healthcare market (including companies with products that have been commercialized in other markets and are seeking capital to expand into the US market).

The firm invests in transformative medical technologies that will lower the cost of care provision, and has previously made investments in healthcare IT and in wearable sensors for elderly patients.  The firm only invests in companies that have attained regulatory approval for their products, or which do not require approval.  The fund does not invest in therapeutics, but is open to investing in diagnostic technologies that will lower the cost of care.  In the medical device sector, the firm is generally not interested in invasive devices such as implantable.

While the firm is open to investing in any indication area, the firm’s focus is on population health and the firm is therefore primarily interested in indications with a large number of patients, including cancer, diseases of the nervous system, and diabetes.

The firm invests in both pre-revenue companies and companies with existing revenues, but does not invest in companies that still face regulatory barriers to attaining revenue.  The firm has long-term horizons for investment.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com

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Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 3: VC Fund Looking Opportunistically in the Life Sciences

10 Jul

A Venture Capital company with offices in the Eastern and Western United States is looking to make equity investments ranging from approximately $3-$5 million initially and $10-$25 million over the investment’s lifetime. The firm looks for companies primarily in the United States, and some select opportunities in Europe. The firm plans to make between 1-5 investments over the next year.

The firm is interested in sectors of Biotech Therapeutics, Diagnostics, Medical Devices, Life Science Tools and Healthcare IT. In the Therapeutics space the firm is looking for both small molecule and biologics that are 1 year from entering clinical trials or later with a preference for companies that have in human data. The firm is generally open to all indications but is especially interested in areas of Oncology, Immunology and Orphan Diseases. For Medical Devices, Diagnostics and Life Science Tools the firm prefers to make later stage investments into companies that have significant in human data or have already been commercialized.

The firm is looking for experienced management teams and generally requires a board seat. The firm looks to take company through significant value inflection points acting as a very hand on investor. The firm almost always leads or co-leads investment rounds.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com

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Investing in the Future: RESI Conference Announces Corporate VC Panel

3 Jul

By Tom Crosby, RESI Conference Manager, LSN

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Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) and Independent Venture Capital are two totally separate beasts with different tactics and strategies – especially regarding early stage investments. Learn from the experts in Corporate Venture Capital why there is a growing interest in early stage life science. As CVC funds continue to grow, it is increasingly important for entrepreneurs to understand these entities as a viable source of potential investment.

The RESI Conference session will feature representatives from some major players in the industry. This is a must attend, one-of-a-kind panel that will provide tremendous insight for the scientist entrepreneur.

Moderated by Vikas Goyal of SR One, the audience will hear from:

Panelists will answer the question regarding independent VCs being friend or foe, and how they are different than independent venture capital. The session will also focus on the individual investment preferences of each representative on the panel. What does their portfolio look like today? What is the best way for early stage entrepreneurs to get on their radar screens?

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East Meets West: The Lessons Learned

3 Jul

By Laura Chess, Research Analyst, LSN

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If you have just read the “East Meets West: By the Numbers”, I would like to provide some additional commentary from a canvassing perspective.

As a research analyst at LSN, one of the reasons I am able to get through to investors is that the purpose of my call is to find out what an investor’s interests are so that I can provide them with qualified dealflow. I am not trying to sell them something. During Asian night, June 18, I was pleasantly surprised with how open and receptive the investor candidates we canvassed were. My goal was to conduct a one-on-one survey that reveals the needs of investors that I had targeted from the Far East. Upon explaining that LSN can help them source and filter global life science companies that are a fit for their current investment mandates, the call becomes a pretty free-flowing conversation.

Below are the two observations I made that may be of help to the reader when canvassing the Asia Oceania region:

1) Many investors in Asia are open to considering western companies and actively seeking deal flow.

Many investors in the Asia-Pacific region don’t have offices in the U.S., which is sometimes misconstrued as a lack of interest in western-based start-ups. In our conversations, however, many Asian investors said they were open to cold calls, interested in establishing relationships with western biotech and medtech companies, and seeking deal flow. These investors were especially interested in companies looking to expand to Asia.

 2) To make the most of late-night outreach, choose large cities, be organized, and add a sense of urgency.

If you have the ability to reach out internationally, choose large cities, such as Hong Kong or Beijing, where investors are well versed in English. Sort the list of investors by time zone, with start times for each. And in the weeks leading up to your outreach, consider contacting investors by email to let them know the date and time when you will call. Taking such steps will help you achieve your primary goal: making as many calls as possible.

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Your Target List: Who Is Not Investing

3 Jul

By Michael Quigley, Director of Research, LSN

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As a fundraising entrepreneur, knowing who is actively investing and who is not has the potential to increase the efficiency of your campaign by 30%, if not more.

Who is “not currently allocating” is one of the most valuable data points that we gather on the life science investment community. In this category we put any investor who has made investments in the space over the past five years and is in the process of fundraising, winding down a fund, or moving out of the space completely. Of the investors we have spoken to over the past year, we have found that approximately 30% are not currently looking to make new investments.

Why is this important? Because investors who aren’t allocating tend to be the slowest to respond to emails and voicemails, which can mean weeks—if not months—of wasted effort, as you try again and again to reach investors that are not seeking opportunities.

When we analyzed our data further, things got even more interesting. Of the investors we have spoken with who are not currently allocating, two-thirds are VCs; of the investors who are allocating, only one-third are VCs. This demonstrates a point we have discussed in this newsletter before: a large number of previously active life science VC investors are now raising their own funds, winding down, or phasing out of the life science sector.

The bottom line is that by knowing who is not actively allocating, you can identify all the players in your space who are seeking opportunities and substantially increase the efficiency and likelihood of successfully raising capital.  Too often fundraising executives use a shotgun approach, reaching out and trying to touch everyone who may or may not be investing in their space. This tactic creates a lot of needless noise and wasted time for both parties. A little extra knowledge regarding the current state of the targeted investor can go a long way toward making a fundraising executive much more productive in seeking capital.

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Hot Life Science Investor Mandate 1: Singapore VC Fund Looking to Help Companies Expand to Asia

3 Jul

A venture capital firm based in Singapore is looking to make early, growth, expansion, and mezzanine stage investments in the healthcare sector. The firm typically invests in the Series A and B rounds. The firm has raised two funds to date. The firm seeks to invest in non-Asian companies that are interested in entering the Asian market; investment funds are prioritized to companies looking to set up operations in Singapore. The firm will also invest in companies based in Asia. The investment size is variable depending on the stage of the company; ranging from $1M to $10M or more. The firm will consider opportunities from around the globe and is actively seeking new investment opportunities. 

The firm seeks to invest in biopharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and medical devices. For therapeutics, the firm prefers novel small molecules and biologics targeting indications in large markets. The firm prefers to invest in platform technologies and typically invests in clinical stage opportunities. For medical devices, the firm prefers devices in the later stages of development or near commercialization. The firm seeks a strong management team and considers both private and public companies.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com

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