Next Phase Newsletter

A global company headquartered in Japan that serves the chemical, petrochemical and bioscience markets with a thriving USA representative office, has recently started a corporate venture initiative with a $300M budget to make strategic investments into both pre and post-commercial companies. The group is flexible in terms of structuring investments and may employ equity investments, M&A and licensing agreements. The firm targets investment sizes from $100k – $5M for early stage companies and $10M-$50M for commercial-stage companies.

In terms of the healthcare and life science sectors, the firm is most interested in companies working in diagnostics and research tools. The firm is particularly interested in clinical diagnostics including IVDs and next generation platforms (NGS, liquid biopsy, LC-MS, point-of-care testing, digital PCR), separation media and connected devices and wearable medical sensors. The group is also interested in advanced materials including materials for secondary batteries, thin-film for electronic devices, separation (inorganic/organic/polymers) and composites. The firm is agnostic to indication area, but has a particular interest in cancer, metabolic (including diabetes) and kidney disorders as well as reproductive health.

The firm has no strict company or management team requirements and invest in both early and later stage opportunities. Board observer status is required along with an investment.

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

The venture capital arm of a global manufacturer of innovative materials is looking for investment opportunities that will align with their parent company’s strategy for either equity investments, partnerships, licensing or acquisition. Within the life sciences, the firm will consider medical devices, novel materials, diagnostics, instruments and tools. The firm is willing to invest globally, and will invest as early as prototype/proof-of-concept stage.

The firm is interested in medical device, diagnostic or instrument and tool companies. The firm will consider all medical devices, but, if FDA approval is required, the firm prefers the company to be in the approval process. For diagnostics, the firm will consider both diagnostic/monitoring machines, tools, instruments & novel materials for Genomics & Cell & Gene therapies. The firm is also interested in instruments or tools that can be used in the medical field or for research purposes.

The firm can lead or co-invest in equity investing, and their involvement in the company after investment will depend on the partnership.

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

A healthcare venture capital investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts recently raised a healthcare IT and services fund of over $250 million. The firm generally makes investments in early stage companies targeting healthcare technology and services. The investment size will vary, depending on the opportunity. The firm typically invests in companies based in the United States though is open to companies based on a global level.

In the healthcare technology sector, the firm is actively seeking new investments in healthcare software and tech-enabled services sectors with a specific focus on payment reform, patients as consmers, healthcare analytics, healthcare infrastructure, and novel service delivery models. The firm has a specific interest in transformational technologies and services that enable value-based healthcare. The firm currently is not focused on therapeutics or traditional medical device investment opportunities, though may consider medical devices with a software/data component, such as sensors, that have either already obtained FDA clearance or are not subject to FDA regulation. The firm is indication agnostic and invests in pre-revenue to growth stage products.

The firm seeks to invest in privately held companies with a strong and experience management team. The group prefers to invest in companies with cutting-edge technologies and large market potential.

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

A midwest-based VC firm invests in several sectors, including health and life sciences.  Within healthcare, the firm invests primarily in digital heath and digital therapeutics technologies, although they will consider medical device and diagnostics companies. In addition, the firm is also now interested in investing in cell and gene therapies and manufacturing technologies as well. The firm is highly flexible regarding investment size, and will allocate from $1-50M depending on the opportunity and stage of development, with a smaller range of $2-5M for cell and gene therapy technologies. The firm frequently invests in businesses with a significant presence in the Midwest, but will consider strong opportunities elsewhere in the US, or global companies expanding to the US.

For digital health and digital therapeutics companies, the firm will invest in all stages, from pre-revenue to companies with revenue in the tens of millions, and will tailor their investment size accordingly. The firm is fairly agnostic to the type of technology, but is less interested in provider-focused tech. While the firm will consider tech-enabled medical devices and diagnostics companies, this is a secondary interest. The firm is also now investing in pre-clinical cell and gene therapy technologies, as well as companies developing manufacturing techniques for these therapies.

The firm generally prefers to lead investments, but is more likely to co-invest in companies in the cell and gene therapy space. The firm is flexible about board representation, but is more likely to take a board seat in digital-based technology companies.

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

A newly launched investment fund seeks to provide seed financing in promising therapeutics to help establish proof of concept for new clinical compounds and to identify novel clinical uses for existing therapeutics. The firm’s founder has robust experience with investing in and operating biotechnology and healthcare companies, and seeks to leverage this expertise to help foster innovation. The firm’s initial size of investment will be in the range of $250K to $1M. The firm has been in active discussions with academia and corporate-funded researchers to identify promising early-stage therapeutic candidates. In addition to traditional investment approaches, the firm is interested in new company creation based on promising drug candidates. For traditional investment, the firm will prioritize companies that are based in the USA, but will seek global assets for potential in-licensing and company creation around this IP. The firm expects to invest and work with 5-10 companies across the fund.

The firm is primarily interested in small molecule therapeutics, as the cost of characterizing new biologics and cell therapies is outside of its investment scale. The firm is seeking very early-stage, pre-IND assets, and will assist with successful IND filing and completion of required studies. The firm primarily seeks therapeutics for rare diseases that qualify for orphan drug designation, but apart from that the firm is indication agnostic.

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

An innovation arm of a global company nurtures innovative ideas developed internally and also forms external partnerships with startups in fields that are strategically relevant for the company’s business objectives. These partnerships may include co-development, in-kind services and/or early stage financial investments. The firm partners with startups based anywhere in the world.

The firm is interested in life science startups developing products that are strategically relevant to the parent company. Sectors of interest include devices that make use of semiconductors or advanced engineering, diagnostic sensors, point of care diagnostics and health monitoring. Digital health opportunities may also be of interest.  The firm may also consider investing in combination products. The firm is open to working with companies at a very early stage of development.

The firm is only interested in companies that have a long-term strategic alignment with the firm. Partnerships generally involve providing access to the firm’s expertise and development support, in addition to potentially making a financial investment.

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

An innovation arm of a large health system is responsible for sourcing external facing innovation outside of the health system’s network, and seeks various strategic partnering opportunities with early-stage companies.  With a meaningful appetite for risk, the firm seeks to partner with companies through a combination of in-kind and other co-development resources, with an intention playing the part of “first paying customer.”  The firm aims to engage 10-15 deals on a yearly basis and is currently open to global opportunities.

The firm is most interested in digital health, HCIT, and process transformation opportunities, and will consider medical devices (predominantly of the “wearables” and monitoring types). The firm does not consider therapeutics companies. The firm is open to various indications, but is most interested technologies targeting care administration/operations, cancer, neuroscience, and ALS.  As the firm seeks to be the first paying customer, the firm is very open to the earliest stage digital health technologies, but companies who have yet to close an angel round might be considered too early.

The firm does not have specific company or management team requirements. The firm is actively involved in the growth of their portfolio companies, and leverage their internal resources and network to support their growth and customer traction.

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