Next Phase Newsletter

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, LSN

As crazy as this may sound, LSN has more early stage investors signed up for Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference (423 registered) than we have fundraising CEOs and scientist-entrepreneurs. I mean think about it! Raising capital is first and foremost a numbers game – you need to get in front of as many investors as possible to increase your chance of meeting the right set of players for your companies stage of development and product. RESI on January 10th at the Marines’ Memorial Club & Hotel will provide an unprecedented moment to get you and your firm in front of the two kind of early stage investors that show up at RESI conferences.

The first group typically has a mandate to invest capital in a particular disease, platform or service. This means the money has been appropriated and they are actively seeking firms to fulfill their current investment mandates and allocate funds. The second group of investors are what I call opportunistic. If they see something interesting, they will put some money in; they don’t always need to have a preapproved mandate to invest. Many of both are attending the upcoming RESI event, and having these two kind of prominent investor types in abundance is a boon for companies looking for capital.

Historically, the last two weeks is when a lot of attendees register and start to plan out their activities in the conference arena. This tactical plan usually works well; however, being JPM, the biggest mega life science show on the planet, the old rules don’t apply. We sent out an alert last week that we fear we may have to close down registrations because we have a limit on the number of people the venue can hold. Now we actually think we may have more investors than capital raisers. January 10th is an unprecedented opportunity to meet investors, start a dialogue that leads to a relationship and hopefully an allocation in the future. The capital will not come and find you. You need to do whatever you can to get in front of investors. This is the 11th RESI conference in 3 years, it’s working, and I hope we can move the needle in early stage life science investing. We are calling all capital raising CEOs take advantage of this opportunity. Click here to register for RESI @ JPM

Shaoyu Chang, MD, MPH, Director of Research & Asia Business Development Liaison

Capital from Asian countries has become a significant force behind life science innovations in North America. On October 10 2016, Zymergen, a Bay Area biotech startup, announced that it closed a massive $130 million Series B round led by the Japanese telecom giant Softbank. The infusion of cash aims to help the three-year-old company build a robot workforce to produce industrial chemicals through genetically altered microbes.

In our previous article, we analyzed US-Asia cross-border investments in life sciences. As we look back on year 2016, the trend seems even clearer. The LSN database recorded 204 pre-IPO equity financing deals in life sciences in North America this year. Interestingly, one out of every four pre-IPO equity financing deals has participation of at least one Asian investment organization (Figure 1), including Softbank’s mega deal.

Figure 1. Life Sciences Private Equity Financing Rounds in North America 2016 (total: 204)

Although cross-border deals are considered challenging at times, a good number of Asian investors are willing to take a leading role, such as Shenzhen, China-based DiNovA Capital. Just this week, the healthcare-focused firm led a $35 million equity financing round into Laguna Hills, CA-based Sonendo, Inc. The new capital aims to advance the commercialization of its dentistry technology platform on a global scale.

For Asian investors, syndicating with co-investors helps diversify portfolio and gain exposure to a wider range of innovations. WuXi Healthcare Ventures, the corporate VC arm of WuXi AppTec, is one of the most active cross-border investors, having participated in three biomedical deals including Avelas Biosciences, Twist Bioscience Corp., and Ideaya Biosciences. Asian co-investors provide not only capital injection but often strategic value in a syndicated round.

Despite recent financial uncertainty, Asian country governments are promoting their biomedical industry with stronger-than-ever urgency. State-owned enterprises and private corporations alike are encouraged to look abroad for innovative technologies that address healthcare problems at home. For example, Japan is seeking geriatric medicine and home care sectors, and China is more interested in lung and liver diseases.

At the upcoming RESI San Francisco conference, you can expect to meet investors from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and India. We are pleased to announce the Asia panel track, composing of Asia Investors Landscape Workshop, Asia Pharma Partners Panel, Asia Medtech Partners Panel, and Asia Pacific Investors Panel. This track will cover both breadth and depth of US-Asia cross-border investments in healthcare. Speakers are as follows:

Asia Investors Landscape:

• Michael Quigley, VP of Market Research, Life Science Nation
• Shaoyu Chang, Director of Research, Life Science Nation

Asia Pharma Partners:

• Winston Town, Managing Partner, FC Capital (Moderator)
• Weimin Tang, Executive Director, Hengrui Therapeutics
• Tianle Redanz, BD Director, Simcere Pharmaceutical
• Weiyong Sun, Senior Director External Scientific Affairs, Daiichi Sankyo
• Jeffrey Moore, President, MP Healthcare Venture Management

Asia Medtech Partners:

• Forest Xu, Partner, Virtus Inspire Ventures (Moderator)
• Ilan Jude, Business Development Lead, Konica Minolta Business Solutions
• Yongwei Zhang, COO, Complete Genomics
• Bin Li, Partner & Managing Director, Ally Bridge Group
• Jean Yao, Managing Partner, Med Qiao Group

Asia Pacific Investors:

• Jimmy Lu, Managing Director, WI Harper Group (Moderator)
• Judith Li, Partner, Lilly Asia Ventures
• Vincent Xiang, Partner, Frontline BioVentures
• Lu Zhang, Managing Partner, NewGen Capital
• Yao Li Ho, Director of Business Development, Lyfe Capital

By Dennis Ford, Founder & CEO, LSN

A year ago, we were delighted by the demand for RESI San Francisco, and to our surprise we had to close registrations two weeks early as we’d reached capacity. We have increased space over last year – however, RESI @ JPM at the Marines’ Memorial Club is fast approaching sellout at 75% of capacity, and is expecting to host over 2000 scheduled and ad hoc meetings in one high energy day. This is a record-setting pace for Life Science Nation and the RESI Conference. We expect to close registration well before January 10th, perhaps even before New Year’s Day!

The growth of RESI into a must-go-to event during JPMorgan week, is owed to our near-equal ratio of investors to fundraising executives paired with our unique partnering platform rich with investor data – an amazing feat that is only possible due to the strength of LSN’s investor network.  Considering how hard it is to get in front of investors that are a fit for your stage of development and product, the opportunity to meet with this many investors who are mandated to find early stage firms in your space is one that serious entrepreneurs cannot afford to miss. The success of the RESI conference series is proof of that.

Carpe diem, register today, and do not miss this great opportunity to find the right investor at the right time for your technology!

By Michael Quigley, VP of Market Research, LSN

With RESI partnering having launched this week we wanted to provide a quick video tutorial on how to use the platform most effectively. The video below shows a step by step demonstration of the platform and how it can be used to parse through and identify the hundreds of companies and investors that will be in attendance on January 10^th. By using this platform, you can identity relevant groups and book up to 16 meetings throughout the day.

With full investor and company profiles capturing data including the stage and sector that of a company’s technology as well as where investors are looking to allocate, this system is extremely powerful in helping to identify matches on the basis of a mutual fit. The sooner you log in and start requesting meetings the better. If you have yet to register and receive your RESI Partnering access info, time is of the essence as schedules will fill up quickly. I hope to see you in San Fran – good luck in partnering!

By Cole Bunn, Senior Research Analyst, LSN

The various panels that run throughout the day at every RESI conference serves to educate entrepreneurs on how various investors (VCs, corporates, angels, family offices, etc.) are looking at innovation in their specific sector and tactical guidance for how to approach and interact with them, including the nuances of commercializing these technologies and current happenings in their respective market. Medtech, especially in recent years, has taken a backseat to biopharma with lower valuations and fewer exit partners, however many early-stage investors and entrepreneurs alike, still believe there is value to be unlocked.

During RESI@JPM, a group of seasoned medical device investors will explore the state of the early-stage medtech space, discuss personal successes and failures in funding novel medical technologies and share with the entrepreneurs in the audience do’s and don’ts of fundraising in this challenging sector.

Medical Device investor panelists will include the following:

• Sam Ifergan, President & CEO, iGan Partners (moderator)
• Ena Prosser, Partner, Fountain Healthcare Partners
• Gerry Brunk, Managing Director, Lumira Capital
• Brent Ahrens, General Partner, Canaan Partners
• Louis Cannon, Founder & Senior Managing Director, BioStar Ventures

By registering for RESI San Francisco, you’ll be able to listen to the Medical Device investors panel live in person, and also experience numerous opportunities to expand your network in the life sciences and to learn more about the fundraising process.