Archive | October, 2016

Hot Investor Mandate 4: Evergreen Fund Invests in Software-Driven Devices, Diagnostics and Healthcare Services

20 Oct

A US-based firm is investing from a multi-million dollar evergreen fund and is interested in a variety of sectors including the life science field. For life science investments, the firm typically allocates $2-15 million, and prefers to invest in Series B-C rounds. The firm invests primarily in the USA and Canada.

The firm is presently focused on technologies that involve an IT/software component, across digital health, healthcare services, medtech, and diagnostics. The firm is open to opportunities in any clinical indication, especially ocular. The firm is only interested in devices and diagnostics that have in-human data, have received marketing approval and are in the commercialization stage.

In the life science sector, the firm is not interested in early-stage R&D opportunities; howeverthe firm is open to both companies with an approved product on the market, and companies with a product in late-stage clinical trials. The firm takes the strength of the management team into consideration.

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

Short-Term Investors in Long-Term Development: Matching an Investor’s Time Horizon

13 Oct

By Lucy Parkinson, Director of Research, LSN

One of the greatest difficulties in raising early stage financing in the life sciences is that many investors balk at the development timelines involved in biotech and medtech opportunities.  VC investors in particular are driven by short term fund lifecycles; particularly if you are receiving an investment late into a fund’s investment period (which may extend 2-3 years after the fund is closed), the VC will be often looking for the possibility of an exit in under 3 years. Angel investors and evergreen funds may also operate under similar horizons, as they rely on successful exits to generate capital to make further investments. Beyond structural constraints, from an investor’s perspective, time is money; their rate of return is directly governed by how long their capital is tied up in your company.

Everyone knows that it takes a long time to develop and commercialize a new drug, medical device or diagnostic. It’s estimated that it takes 11-14 years to move a drug from preclinical testing to the marketplace. Yet many investors step into this marketplace with a 2- or 3-year investment horizon. Early stage companies must therefore learn how to get in step with investors when it comes to timelines.

It’s important to understand that early stage investors most often don’t intend to remain invested in a company all the way to commercialization; rather, they want to deploy capital to enable a company to reach an important milestone that can be used to generate an exit opportunity.  If your company has a long development path ahead, it’s therefore vital to identify these milestones and provide investors with a map that will demonstrate your near term opportunities for value inflection.  A company can also look for potential ways to accelerate their development path.  Recently one LSN client created a new clinical development plan that would provide significant results much sooner than their original plan; this has improved their investor traction tremendously.  In the biotech world, many companies look for potential applications of their products in orphan diseases so that they can pursue an accelerated plan.

Alternatively, a company can focus on investors who are looking for longer term opportunities. This may include family offices or strategic investors; however, it’s important to reach out to every possible category of investors, and having a timeline that can provide value to both short-term and long-term investors is important for increasing your potential to receive investment.

AgBio Spotlight

13 Oct

By Caitlin Kramer, Research Analyst, LSN

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Agriculture is the base of modern society, and makes up nearly a third of the global carbon footprint. Many current sociopolitical conversations revolve around GMOs, use of pesticides and antibiotics, and the future of sustainable food in the face of an ever-growing population. Biotechnology has increasingly sought to step up to these challenges of sustainability, though not always as successfully as anticipated (biofuels) or without controversy (GMOs), and in the back seat compared to biotech’s role in therapeutics. Yet, innovation in this space still sees strong interest from investors – 152 investors mention an interest in agbio in their mandates on the LSN Investor Platform. A majority of the investors LSN tracks that are interested in Agbio are open to investing as early as the seed stage.

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Figure 1. Data taken from LSN Investor Database on 13 Oct 16.

The LSN Company Platform contains 951 agbio companies, broken down by country below. China and India, the world’s two most populous nations, comprise 30% of the agbio companies tracked in the platform. Italy, the world’s largest producer of wines and a lead producer of olive oil and various fruits, comes in third.

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Figure 2. Data taken from LSN Company Database on 13 Oct 16.

LSN tracks a wide variety of investor interests and company sectors globally. Agriculture biotechnology is an important area of investment and innovation for countries around the world that has not escaped our notice.  We’ve found a wealth of early stage financing available for agbio companies, with interest from every investor category.

RESI Panel Announced: Asia Pacific Investors

13 Oct

By Cole Bunn, Senior Research Analyst, LSN

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Numerous Asian-based venture firms have created investment offices in the states to uncover U.S. technology that fills an unmet need back home. These investors are looking to acquire an early stake and shepherd innovative products through the unfamiliar regulatory agencies/process, business environment and healthcare system at large.

LSN has recently recognized this trend with a dedicated track to explore these investor’s specific appetite and first-hand insight into cross-border deals, and we’re excited to bring these panels to the West Coast where there is a large amount of such activity.

Asia Pacific Investors panelists will include the following:

By registering for RESI San Francisco on January 10 (Tuesday of JPM week), you’ll be able to listen to these investors discuss the technologies they’re seeking in the US and how they can drive value by leveraging overseas networks and infrastructure.  The RESI Asia-North America Track will provide numerous opportunities to expand your network in the life sciences and learn more about the fundraising process in general.

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Hot Investor Mandate 1: Global PE Firm Invests in Clinical-Stage Therapeutics, Devices and Diagnostics

13 Oct

A private equity firm with offices across Asia and in the USA has over $4 billion AUM and is making new investments from three main funds. The firm has a dedicated life science investment team and invests in venture stage companies. The firm invests in various stages, typically start-up and early stage. For life science companies, the firm generally allocates USD 3-5 million per round. The firm is currently focused on opportunities in the US and Japan.

The firm invests opportunistically in the life sciences. The firm seeks to invest in innovative therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices. For therapeutics, the firm generally invests in novel platform technologies and considers both small molecules and biologics. The firm is indication agnostic and will consider orphan diseases. The firm is also agnostic to the stage of development, but typically invests in companies with a lead asset in clinical trials. For medical devices, the firm is also opportunistic and generally invests in devices that are in the clinic.

The firm is currently focused on private companies in the US and Japan. The firm generally requires a seat on the board of directors or observers.

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

Hot Investor Mandate 2: Crossborder VC Invests in Digital Health, Diagnostics, Devices and Health Apps

13 Oct

A venture capital firm founded in 2014 with offices in Silicon Valley and Shanghai makes around half of its investments in mobile web development, and half in deep tech, including digital health, healthcare IT, and medical devices. The firm manages a $20 million fund, Fund 1, and is currently fundraising Fund 2. The firm typically invests an average of $300,000 per company, though this is dependent on the technology as the investment size may increase, particularly for hardware-based technology. The firm typically co-invests for Fund 1, and is anticipating leading investments with Fund 2.

The firm typically makes 12-20 new investments per year, and focuses on companies based in North America (USA & Canada), though is open to looking at companies based on a global-level. Furthermore, the firm has a considerable value-add in supporting companies that may be interested in moving their markets to Asia by passing potential deals to its Shanghai office as its source of deal flow, and making the right introductions to Asian investors and/or distribution partners.

The firm is open to all subsectors of digital health, healthcare IT, diagnostics, mobile app healthcare technologies, and all classes of medical devices. The firm is indication agnostic and looks primarily at early-stage companies, particularly at the seed pre-Series A stage.

The firm does not have a particular management team requirement, as it primarily assesses the technology itself. The firm will help the company fill the team if necessary. If leading the round, the firm will take a board seat after an investment.

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

Hot Investor Mandate 3: Northeast PE Firm Invests in Growth-Stage Healthcare Opportunities

13 Oct

A Private Equity company founded in 1982 and based in Boston, MA has raised 8 funds to date totaling approximately $1 billion in total assets raised. The firm is looking to invest $2-$15 million in preferred equity. The firm also considers in-license technologies and strategic acquisitions. For equity investments the firm prefers that companies are located in Eastern US and Midwest, but for acquisitions and in-licensing, the firm will consider companies located around the globe.

The firm is interested in companies in sectors of Therapeutics and Diagnostics, Medical Devices, Service Providers and Healthcare IT. The firm is generally open to all indications and sectors and has a strong preference for companies working with platform technologies. For equity investments, the firm looks for companies that have reached commercialization. For acquisitions and in-licensing, the firm will look at companies in Phase III of development or medical devices companies that are within one year of commercialization.

The firm is looking for experienced management teams with domain expertise and leadership skills that are capable of taking the company to the next value inflection point or additional capital raise. The firm is looking for companies that have at least $2-$30 million in yearly revenue. The firm is interested in company that are profitable or near break even and have demonstrated substantial opportunity for growth.

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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