Next Phase Newsletter

A venture capital firm based in Canada is making seed and venture investments and usually seeks to be the first institutional capital in a company. Equity investments are the preferred capital structure; however convertible notes may be employed for seed investments. Initial investments may be as small as $1M (seed-stage companies) with up to $15M allocated over the life of the investment. The firm prefers to lead financing rounds of Canadian companies and co-lead investments based in the United States.

The firm is focused on investments in therapeutics, medtech and diagnostics. The firm is agnostic in terms of subsector and indication and invests in early pre-clinical up unto Phase III therapeutic assets with the caveat being that the capital needs of the company fall within the fund’s criteria for investment size. As for devices and diagnostics stage of development, the firm invests in products in development and in clinical settings given the aforementioned capital constraints for therapeutics. For medtech, the firm has a preference for 510(k) regulatory pathways but will also evaluate devices with a PMA pathway.

The firm has no strict criteria for management teams and will work with novice entrepreneurs, however those management teams with experience are favored. The firm looks to originate 2/3 of its investments in Canada and the rest in the United States, and typically seeks a board seat along with investment.

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

An investment firm with offices in the USA invests in companies of all sectors that have some AI/ML component. Within healthcare, the firm invests in revenue-generating companies. The firm will not invest in any company that requires FDA approval. The firm invests primarily in the US, but reserves about 30% of their fund for investments in India. The firm invests in Series A and later companies, and will invest $0.5-2M per company.

The firm does not invest in therapeutics or medical devices, anything that requires FDA approval. The firm primarily invests in software-based companies, as long as the technology has an AI/ML component. This could include enterprise software, diagnostic image analysis or drug discovery platforms, as long as the therapeutics are then out-licensed, and not developed in house.

The firm can lead or co-invest, and will take a board or observer seat for larger check sizes. The firm is an active investor, and looks for management teams that are open to suggestion and are willing to benefit from the expertise of the firm and their network. The firm looks for companies that have at least $1M in ARR.

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

A private equity firm with offices in Asia makes late venture and growth stage investments exclusively in the life sciences. The firm has raised 3 funds to date. The firm recently raised its third fund of USD 200 million in April 2014. The firm’s target investment size is USD 15-20 million per company and typically USD 5 million for cross-border investments. The firm primarily focuses on opportunities in China; however the firm is also interested in companies abroad that have a strong China angle or China strategy in near term (target market, R&D/manufacturing, sales, etc). The firm is actively seeking new investment opportunities.

The firm seeks to invest in late-stage assets that are on market or close to commercialization. The firm is interested in therapeutics/pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, and healthcare services. For therapeutics, the firm will consider small molecules and biologics as well as biosimilars and reformulated drugs. At minimum, the product should be in Phase III of clinical trials. The firm may look at Phase II candidates that have a relatively less complicated clinical trial. For example, the firm will not consider biologics in Phase II. For indications, the firm focuses on products that address a large unmet medical need in China. This includes diabetes, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, liver, and degenerative diseases. For medical devices, the firm is opportunistic in terms of subsectors. Similar to therapeutics, the firm focuses on indications relevant to China. The firm looks for devices that are very close to market or market approved.

The firm is only interested in companies that have a strong China angle or strategy. The firm typically seeks board representation post-investment.

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

The firm is a global investment platform specialized in the healthcare & nutrition sector. The firm is operating since 2010 as a multi-stage investment manager, dedicated to evidence-based investment in companies that are developing superior products and services within the healthcare, life science and nutrition market segments. The flexibility of its strategy will allow the firm to not only provide private funding for promising venture companies, but also operate on cross-over financings, IPOs, and offer significant equity financing to fast-growing and profitable companies within the space when they get more established. In 2020, the firm launched the a Europe Venture Fund supported by two family holdings, enjoying privileged access to sector expertise and industrial network within key segment of the Health & Nutrition market, globally. The allocation in venture capital ranges from €5M to €7M ($6M to $8M) per company. The firm invests in Europe, Israel, North America and Middle-East.

The firm is primarily focused on 4 target investments areas :

– Life Science Tools & Diagnostics: Synthetic Biology; Point of Care Solutions; High Value Diagnostics; Life science Tools; Software, system integration & data mngt; New Imaging Solutions.

– Contract Manufacturing & Pharma services: Regulatory & Compliance; Bio-Statistics & Data Analytics; Pharma / API Development & Supply; Contract Development & Manufacturing; Research/ Drug Screening Services; Clinical Trial Design & Monitoring.

– Therapeutic Intervention & Patient Management Services: Infectious Diseases; Orphan Diseases; Respiratory Disorders; Ophthalmology; Home care & Remote patient monitoring.

– Preventive Medicine and Nutrition: Medical food, Probiotics & Nutraceuticals; Food Tracking & Safety; Plant Science & Crop protection; Novel Ingredient & Alternative Proteins; Animal health & nutrition; Novel Farming & Food processing. The firm actively supports entrepreneurs and companies that bring differentiated solutions to unmet medical needs and improve access to high-value products and services.

The firm has 3 principles that guide their investments:

– Invest in people first. The firm is looking for exceptional teams with great integrity, passion and shared vision about what business model to build or expand.

– Back differentiated products and services capable of addressing poorly served clinical needs with the potential to generate substantial revenues in attractive segments of the healthcare market.

– Bring added-value to support great companies globally. The firm’s team must be convinced that its distinctive experience, sector insights and international relationships can materially help entrepreneurs succeed. The firm is performing both growth equity and venture capital investments, therefore the firm primarily interested in small / mid-size companies at different stages of development and could consider investments in public companies. The firm invests in both revenue-generating and pre-revenue companies.

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

The firm is a pharmaceutical company established in 1997 and is headquartered in California. The firm is the wholly-owned subsidiary of a global pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Japan, that has been in operation since 1848. The company is one of the world’s largest patch manufacturers. The firm is focused on developing innovative products in CNS, oncology, and pain management. In particular, the firm has established a strong global presence in transdermal patch products. The company has several products on the market, including a topical, transdermal patch for post-herpetic neuralgia that provides analgesia to affected nerves and relieve pain. Another product is an injection used for the treatment of cancer, and is the first non-alcohol formulation of docetaxel approved in the USA. The firm is seeking novel products for potential in-licensing and partnering opportunities to strengthen their current pipeline. In addition, the firm is unveiling a new initiative through which the company will provide equity investment to early-stage technologies for which the firm could help leverage clinical development. The size of investment will largely depend on the company’s stage of development, but the company is open to investing up to $5M in initial investment. The firm is seeking global opportunities.

The firm’s business is centered on 3 main indications: CNS, oncology, and pain management. With the new early-stage investment initiative, the firm will focus on topical pain, CNS, and dermatology.

The firm is most interested in new NCEs that can be in integrated with topical delivery technologies, as well as existing chemical entities that have applicability in patch and topical applications. The firm will consider technologies as early as in development/pre-clinical.

The firm has no specific management team requirements. The firm has a development and regulatory team that can help companies with advancing towards FDA approval as well as Asian market entry, particularly Japan. Because the firm has many resources and support to offer to early-stage companies, experienced management team and successful track record would be a plus, but not a requirement.

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

The firm is a Toronto-based venture capital firm that was founded in 2016. The firm invests out of its second fund, which was initially closed in October 2020 at USD 150 million. Among the 150 million, the firm manages to invest 100 million directly in companies while the other 50 million will invest in funds. The firm focuses on investments in three main sectors: Biopharmaceutical, Healthcare Platform & Services, and Technology (i.e., SAAS, Fintech). The firm provides initial investments at USD 3-5 million, and it will also reserve a further amount for follow-on financing and supports the startups in strategic partnerships. The firm is interested in pre-clinical to clinical-stage biotech companies. The firm invests primarily in North America but also opens to invest in Europe or China.

The firm is looking for new opportunities in the life science space, including therapeutics, diagnostics, and healthcare platforms. The firm’s investments to date have included companies developing in cell therapy, oncology, neuroscience, and drug-discovery platform. The firm is opportunistic in terms of sector, subsectors, and indications. The firm will also consider orphan drugs. Within medical devices and digital health, the firm will only consider companies that already have a USD 10 million minimum revenue. The firm will only co-invest and will prefer to co-invest with well-known lead investors.

The firm does not have specific requirements on companies or management teams.

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

The corporate venture of a publicly listed pharmaceutical group in Asia has successfully invested and established 7 IPO companies in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The firm now focuses on strategic investments which can synergize with its portfolio companies or future business. The firm is open to consider investment opportunities globally, and is willing to help overseas portfolio companies enter into Asia through licensing or joint venture activities. Typical allocation size can range from US$3-20 million.

The firm is investing strategically in selected sectors. Within therapeutics, the firm considers in companies with technology platforms in cell therapy, RNA therapies, bispecific and ADC drugs.  Investment stage can range from preclinical to early clinical stage.  The firm is also interested in investing in early stage CDMO companies in the areas above.

The firm is looking for experienced management teams with proven track records. The firm typically requests a board seat in its portfolio company.

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