Next Phase Newsletter

A newly established venture capital firm is focused on technologies that enhance the human experience and contribute to their well-being. For initial investment, the firm will invest $100-500K and will reserve some funds for follow-on investment. The firm invests mainly in Seed to Series A rounds and often acts as the first institutional investor. Currently, the firm is focused on investing in companies based in the USA, and aims to make 8-10 investments in bio/healthcare technologies.

The firm is interested in companies dedicated to genetics, microbiome, personal pharmaceuticals/diagnostics, VR/AR, consumer-facing medtech or digital health technologies, etc. The firm does not invest in traditional biopharmaceuticals or medical devices, but open to those that require 510k approval.

The firm is open to working with all types of management teams and has no specific management requirements. They could lead the round at seed stage but typically syndicate with other investors for Series A. The firm will take an active role in supporting their companies with needed guidance and resources.

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

A VC fund is focused on the earliest stage companies looking to expand to the Chinese market. The firm will invest between $50-250K in companies that are preclinical/in development and looks to be a strategic partner, either by helping the company enter the Chinese market, or find a licensing opportunity with one of the firm’s strategic partners in China. The firm is looking for therapeutic, medical device or diagnostics companies, but will generally not consider digital health companies due to the difficulty in adapting them to the Chinese market. The firm is currently looking to make about 4 investments a year, about 1 per quarter.

The firm is currently focused primarily on medical devices, but will consider therapeutics and diagnostics as well. For medical devices, the firm prefers 510k pathway. The firm is generally agnostic to subsector and indication, but is seeking technologies that are relevant to the Chinese market.

While it is not required, the firm prefers to take a board seat after investing, since they are looking to be active strategic partners in each company in which the firm invests.

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

A family office based in the USA invests in life science companies at the Seed or Series A stage. The firm will consider opportunities throughout the US and Canada but has a focus on the US East Coast and Midwest. The firm’s investment size ranges from $100,000-$250,000 for seed rounds up to as much as $5 million for Series A opportunities, and the firm may also participate in follow-on investments for their portfolio companies.

The firm is interested in medtech, diagnostics, digital health, biotech, and other applications in life sciences such as technologies that improve lab processes. The firm also has interest in therapeutic platform opportunities, but less in companies developing single drug assets. The firm is open to investing in early stage technologies, including devices that have yet to enter human clinical trials.

The firm will consider investing in companies that have obtained data from a prototype, pilot study, or early stage clinical trial. The firm will also consider investing in management teams that have a successful track record with similar types of technologies and targets.

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

An emerging company is focused on the development of the best-in-class immunotherapy technology for cancer cure. Teamed up with outstanding immunologists and molecular biologists, the firm has generated a strong pipeline of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) product candidates to treat a wide variety of liquid and solid tumors. Legend Biotech is a subsidiary company of a large Chinese CRO. The firm is actively seeking investment, partnering and licensing opportunities to expand the pipeline of therapeutics and offerings. Typical allocations are $1-10 M.

The firm’s sectors of focus are cell and gene therapies, cell engineering, processing and manufacturing technologies and tools.

The firm may seek a board seat depending upon size of investment. They are open to working with all stages of management teams. The firm can either lead or co-invest.

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

A pharma/biotech investment arm of a Middle East-based family office with a total AUM of $1B through its four investment arms is actively seeking investment opportunities. The firm is stage-agnostic, however the firm is fundamentally science-driven and considers mainly early pre-clinical and clinical-stage projects, preferably with POC validation. The firm’s investment size ranges widely from $0.5M – $20M and comes in the form of straight equity. The firm seeks board representation and is a very active investor, helping guide the company’s development and strategy. The firm invests globally and may lead investments, but typically co-invests in U.S.-based companies. The firm has no targeted number of investments per year.

The firm has also recently started an accelerator program with several globally established companies for pre-seed investments in early stage assets, including tech transfer from universities. This program provides $1-1.5M in funding for two years to help companies achieve POC and be ready to raise a Series A round. The program is open to technologies developed globally that are willing to be advanced in the country the investment firm is based in.

The firm is open to both pre-clinical and clinical stage companies and is agnostic to technology type and indication. The firm has a specific interest in immuno-oncology, gene therapy and orphan or unmet medical need. The firm is only interested in first-in-class, breakthrough assets and does not consider re-purposed assets or iterative technologies. The accelerator program is focused on therapeutics in oncology, immuno-oncology, immunology, fertility, endocrinology, gene therapy, synthetic biology and microbiome-related technologies.

The firm prefers to invest early and help take the company through a major inflection point. The firm has no specific management team requirements.

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

A healthcare-focused, evergreen incubator fund based in the USA is now focusing on orphan drugs and rare diseases via a holding company-fund business model pioneered by the firm in 2009 for common diseases. The firm collaborates with an affiliate on projects that are not in the orphan diseases space.

The firm has a high threshold for working with companies and makes most of its investments in companies with which there is some type of relationship, but it is open to new opportunities as well on a case-by-case basis. The firm is mainly focused on therapeutics and will consider platform technologies that are therapeutic focused e.g. digital therapeutics. The firm’s investment size varies widely depending on the needs of the company. The capital structure depends on the financing round, with convertible notes being preferred for seed rounds and equity for everything else (no debt financing) with the preferred entry point being seed or Series A.

The firm only co-invests, and does not lead rounds unless the key principals are part of founding entrepreneurs. The firm has some limitations on geographic exposure and will consider companies in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, the Netherlands or the United Kingdom.

The firm will invest in therapeutics (no specific indication) that treats orphan diseases with strong scientific rationale. For the firm, not all orphan indications are rare or ultra-rare since the future is fragmentation of common indications characterized through genomics or proteomics profile. The firm is interested in clinical stage assets starting from Phase IIa but on a case by case basis earlier stage assets that are validated in pre-clinical models.

In the past, the firm has invested in therapeutics (a single asset or a company with multiple products), which treat unmet needs in glaucoma, thrombosis (in particular patients with prosthetic heart valves and renal dysfunction), atrial fibrillation, inflammatory disorders (such as ulcerative colitis), gastrointestinal disorders (such as constipation, reflux disease) as well as a small molecule to treat neurovascular disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, wet-age related macular degeneration.

The firm will consider clinical-stage therapeutics (or with those with other therapeutic modalities) to treat orphan disease including small molecules, and novel biologics (including “biobetters”) that are likely to obtain or already have issued composition of matter patents (and/or method of use patents) and platform technologies (that could generate novel drug candidates for orphan diseases), repurposed drugs with issued IP, biosimilars and digital therapeutics. The firm has interest in diagnostics, medical devices (for drug-device combination only) or digital health (data analytics for diagnosing diseases) as long as the focus is on orphan diseases. Any areas outside these, the firm collaborates with an affiliate to enable set-up and/or growth.

The firm does not have any specific management team requirements, and will work with all entrepreneurs. A board seat is not always required, but is not uncommon.

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

A biotech company founded in 2016 with several offices in China is VC backed with $150M Series A funding followed by $260 MM Series B funding. With immuno-oncology as the firm’s core therapeutic focus, the company strives to lead Chinese research to the global market through its world class R&D team, its innovative portfolio, and an open innovation strategy. The company has a rich developing pipeline of oncology assets and is currently seeking in-licensing and partnership opportunities globally. The firm can invest in both private and public companies, depending on development stage of assets. The firm’s investment size depends on applicable deals.

The firm is particularly interested in first in class, truly innovative oncology assets from pre-clinical to market except for CAR-T therapy. The firm is currently focused on opportunities for the greater China market.

The firm’s team is flexible and is open to working with all different kinds of management teams.

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