Next Phase Newsletter

An institutional alternative investor with several offices in Canada currently manages two venture funds: one fund is $100M in size and was raised in 2016, and the other fund is $300M in size and was raised in 2014. The firm prefers investing in companies that are on the market, but is willing to look at companies that are late into development and about to emerge onto the market.

The firm is agnostic towards their investments into the life sciences field for all their funds. With the first fund, the firm is looking to invest in companies in the British Columbia area which the firm believes can help grow the area. This first fund invests across four major technology sectors: Life sciences, CleanTech, Digital media and Information/Communications Technology. For the firm’s other larger venture fund, the firm is instead looking at more global markets and seeks to invest in companies that seem promising to them. Previous investments by the firm have been more involved in the technology sector.

The firm looks for experienced management teams. For the first fund, the firm cannot lead an investment, but prefers a board seat when investing. For the other fund, the firm is more flexible with leading, but still prefers a board seat when investing.

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

An active angel group based in Canada with more than 260 members considers early stage companies in a wide range of industry sectors including life sciences. The group can either lead or co-invest in a financing round in an average investment of $750K per deal. The group can make 30 investments per year. The group is seeking new opportunities across Canada and the USA.

Within life sciences, the group is most interested in early stage therapeutics, medical device, diagnostic, and healthcare IT innovations. The firm is open to all kinds of sectors and indications. In terms of therapeutics, the group will look at products of stages from pre-clinical to phase II.

The group is looking for competent entrepreneurs with sector expertise. The firm may take a board seat in applicable cases.

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

A venture capital firm based in California invests in a wide range of data-driven products that integrate AI, machine learning, and IoT. The firm is backed by a management team with a long, successful track record of building tech companies. The firm invests in the company’s early stages with an initial check size of $250 K with follow-on investments as the company matures, with equity and convertible loan as the preferred capital structures. The firm focuses on US-based companies, but may consider international companies with strongly innovative products that they can bring to the US market.

The firm will look at a range of verticals in the life sciences sector as long as there is a strong data-driven component in the company’s product. Sectors of interest include healthcare IT/digital health. The firm will not consider therapeutics or medical devices unless there is a heavy data component. The firm’s previous investments include an AI-driven image analysis platform for cancer detection, a computational DNA analysis platform for personalized cancer treatments, and a DNA amplification technology based on electric field-induced pH changes. The firm has their own AI Lab of top data scientists, so the company does not have to have the AI experts as long as they have the data, know how to get the data, and what information would be valuable to retrieve via machine learning applications.

The firm will work with companies backed by founders with deep domain expertise. The firm prefers deploying the venture studio model to help co-found companies, deploy their AI Lab experts, and will always take a board seat in their portfolio companies.

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

A corporate venture capital arm of a global generic manufacturer is headquartered in the UK. The firm can invest $200K-$5m to a round. The firm will participate in rounds for digital health companies at all stages, as early as seed and through later venture rounds. The firm is open to working with companies globally.

Within digital health, the firm is seeking companies that are in the prevention and adherence space as well as digital medical devices and big data analytics platforms that address chronic diseases (Diabetes, Obesity and Cardiovascular), respiratory diseases, oncology, consumer and mental health. Past investments in the space include a wearable nicotine delivery device with integrated software and data analytics component to aid in smoking cessation.

The firm prefers to work with management teams with a track record in the space and a strong business plan.

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

A China-based private equity firm with additional offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong with an affiliation to an established Silicon Valley-based investment firm has raised 10 funds to date. The firm invests across several sectors including healthcare. The firm is a full-spectrum investor and will invest from Series A to pre-IPO and PIPE. The firm may also consider buyout and add-on acquisition for its portfolio companies. The firm can invest up to US$100 million per company. Typical investments range from US$5-50 millions. In terms of geography, the firm is China focused, but is also interested in opportunities from US and Europe with a strong China angle.

The firm invests opportunistically in the Healthcare sector and considers each deal on a case-by-case basis. Sectors of interest include biopharma, medical devices and equipment, diagnostics, HCIT, and R&D services that have large market potential. The firm is agnostic to the stage of development. The firm will consider products in pre-clinical up to market approved products.

The firm invests in both private and public companies. The firm invests in Chinese companies as well as US- and Europe-based companies with a China angle.

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

A global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, with USA operations, is actively seeking global collaboration and in-licensing opportunities within the early-stage ecosystem to strengthen their pipeline.

The company is seeking innovative therapies with highest focus on the following: CNS diseases, autoimmune diseases, and diabetes/kidney diseases. The company’s pipeline covers other indications as well and the company may review such opportunities on a case-by-case basis. The company is open to all stages of development, and those who have passed PoC are considered most ideal. The company has a strong interest in excellent technologies in biologics, including therapeutic antibodies, vaccines, and nucleic acid drugs, as well as cell-based phenotypic screening models of CNS or skeletal muscle diseases for new drug discovery.

Currently, the company’s main research focus can be broken down into 3 main branches: (1) nucleic acid medicine, (2) vaccines, and (3) macrocyclic compounds. In terms of their first interest, the company is highly interested in novel nucleic acid delivery systems targeted CNS and skeletal muscle, particularly those that could enable successful delivery from the gut. In terms of vaccines, the company is looking for innovative vaccine platforms to strengthen their current pipeline, which targets a broad range of infectious diseases. The last area of interest involves macrocyclic compounds with peptide modifications that could increase their cell permeability and therapeutic potential.

The company seeks to work with management teams with strong scientific expertise.

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

A Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm works closely with major incubators globally, through which they are able to identify high-potential, disruptive technologies, but is also seeking opportunities outside of their network. The firm is actively investing in early-stage companies and generally participates in Series A to B financing rounds. The initial size of investment depends largely on the company’s stage of development. The firm seeks investments globally.

The firm will consider opportunities in therapeutics, diagnostics, and digital health/healthcare IT. The firm is most interested in data-centric and enterprise technologies. The firm is agnostic to subsector and indication, but the firm will generally avoid medical device companies and early-stage therapeutics companies (i.e. those that take longer than 18 months to commercialize), but the firm may consider derisked assets or those that have an accelerated pathway to commercialization. Within healthcare IT technologies, the firm would like to see revenue-generating companies with good consumer traction.

The firm invests in both publicly traded and privately-owned companies. The firm is an active investor and will directly engage in the growth of their portfolio companies through a number of value-ons, including brand building, international expansion, talent recruiting, operation and technical guidance, etc. The firm need not have a fully established management team prior to investment.

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