By Alexander Vassallo, Manager of Business Development West Coast (US), Entrepreneurial Education Lead, LSN

The best entrepreneurs are the best storytellers. Irrespective of the industry or discipline you find yourself in, the ability to deliver a compelling and powerful narrative of your unique technology or product, highlighting clearly why you’ve undertaken a new business venture, is one of the most important skills a fundraising executive must have. Last week’s fundraising bootcamp – “It All Starts with the Story” – delivered by members of LSN’s BD team, Greg Mannix and Alex Vassallo, offered a deep dive into one of the most critical determinants of a startup entity’s success.

Potential partners you may approach during your global fundraising initiatives will be looking for entrepreneurs who have not only managed to portray their company’s unique story into a cogent message threaded through multiple modalities, but they will be looking for authenticity. Finding your voice and being able to inspire partners to learn more about your company is part and parcel of undergoing the transformation from aspiring scientist-entrepreneur to successful life science executive. However, only those entrepreneurs who truly commit to the process and come to terms with the importance of entrepreneurial agency will be the ones who find success in the shark tank.

Finding your voice and developing a compelling narrative goes beyond the obvious benefits of highlighting your startup’s unique value points to potential partners in a meeting. In fact, undertaking this process successfully prepares you to speak different languages within the context of a deal, allocation, or partnership. And by different languages, we don’t mean Spanish or French, we mean business and science. From speaking generally to the gatekeepers who will evaluate the possibility of progressing your investment opportunity down the deal chain, to the navigators and evaluators with whom you can speak more scientifically, and eventually the decision maker with whom you will be speaking a heavily business-centric language, if you can net out your company’s unique story in as little as a 5-7 word tagline and as extensively as a 2-page executive summary and a 10-12 slide pitch deck, you truly will have found your voice.

Most importantly to consider when approaching your potential partners, even more so than the estimated ROI of your opportunity or the unmet medical need being addressed, is the fact that investors will always bet on the team. Investing in a company is commonly referred to as getting into bed with the company or investor; this is a relationship that could last anywhere between 5-15 years, and unless investors see that you have an inspired team behind you that shares your vision and believes in the same compelling narrative, they will be dissuaded from viewing your investment opportunity as a tangible relationship that can grow and develop throughout the years. So not only do you need to get your story straight to bring to potential partners, but to be successful in the early-stage life science arena, you must be able to inspire your colleagues to share in your company’s narrative.

All of this and more was covered in LSN’s Fundraising Bootcamp, “It All Starts with the Story”. If you are interested in learning more, have a look at the recording of last week’s session. We are the industry leaders in connecting early-stage life science firms with active investors and strategic partners, and it is our pleasure to share the story of what we have learnt over the past decade with the next generation of leading industry professionals.

By Karen Deyo, Director of Investor Research, Israel BD, LSN

When starting a fundraising journey, it is important for startups to keep an open mind for any relevant source of funding or means of advancing their technology. Whether a standard equity investment, convertible note, joint partnership, licensing deal, or non-dilutive funding, it is necessary for startups to understand all options, weigh the pros and cons, and find the best way forward for the company.

Non-dilutive funding is a great option for early-stage startups for many reasons. First, it provides a great way to advance to value inflection points without reducing their equity stake in the company. Second, investors like to see non-dilutive funding because it proves that, in many instances, experts in the relevant field believe strongly in the technology and its promise. Additionally, investors benefit from the lack of equity dilution and can indicate a better ROI for them. Lastly, non-dilutive funding can serve as a bridge when a company is having difficulty with fundraising, helping them reach that milestone that investors want to see before investing.

There are many sources for non-dilutive funding – this includes regional organizations, non-profits and government entities. These grants often require an extensive application process, with several specific deadlines each year. Many of these organizations also have support staff that can help companies improve their odds of getting funded. Doing your research for these programs can play a large role in your success – but the benefits are worth the effort! Keep an eye out for these opportunities, and remember to check all potential avenues, including your regional economic initiatives, government organizations promoting startup advancement, and patient non-profit groups or foundations supporting the indication you are addressing. Good luck with your journey!

A life sciences venture capital fund in Asia currently manages three funds with over $630 million assets under management and is actively seeking investment opportunities. On average, the size of investment is $5-25M in venture rounds. The firm prefers to act as the lead investor but is also open to co-investing. The firm looks for companies located around the globe, with a preference in the US and China. The firm is actively seeking new investment opportunities.

The firm is focused on Therapeutics and Medical Devices opportunities. The firm’s core focused therapeutic areas include oncology, immunology, metabolic and CNS diseases, but is also focused on new modalities and platform technologies. The firm is also interested in interventional, novel medical devices in cardiovascular, neuro-vascular diseases.

The firm prefers management team with strong scientific background and expertise, successful track records would be a plus but is not required. The firm generally takes a board seat.

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 currently manages over $800 million, including their recently announced venture fund in early 2022. 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 consumers, 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 newly established venture capital firm manages a fund dedicated specifically to life science investments. Though it could largely vary on a deal-by-deal basis, the firm’s initial size of investment is usually around $1M, with a significant portion dedicated to follow-on investments. Geographically, the firm is focused on companies headquartered in Japan and those that are looking to expand into the Japanese market.

The firm is most interested in biotech and digital health technologies. The firm is very interested in emerging therapeutic technologies such as cell and gene therapy, as well as platform technologies. With regards to digital health technologies, the firm is most interested in (i) IT solutions for people in terms of health management, disease prevention, diagnosis, therapy, disease management, and nursing care; (ii) healthcare industry in terms of drug discovery & development, medical information, distribution system by leveraging AI, big data, IoT, VR, etc. The firm is opportunistic in terms of stage, and will seek opportunities that are pre-clinical and beyond.

The firm is actively seeking opportunities in Japan and those that are looking to expand into Japan. The firm will prefer to lead investments in companies headquartered in Japan where they can best leverage their resources and network, but will generally follow larger syndicates for deals outside of Japan.

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

Founded in 2017, this investment firm’s biggest investment in a single company is $5M thus far, but the size of investment could vary. The firm looks for companies located around the globe, with a preference in Europe. The firm is actively seeking new investment opportunities.

The firm looks to invest 70% in Therapeutics, 20% in Medical Devices, and 10% Digital Health/Others. In Therapeutic areas, the firm might invest half in early-stage and another half in later-stage. The firm is opportunistic in indications and willing to consider orphan indications. The firm seeks technologies that could fill unmet medical needs.

The firm has no specific requirements on companies. The firm currently acts as lead investors for two companies, and has represented in five boards. The firm might take a board seat depends on applicable cases.

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

By Joey Wong, Investor Research Analyst, Hong Kong BD, LSN

Digital RESI June invited active investors from different investment groups to share their thoughts on various topics related to investing and partnering with early-stage companies in the life science and healthcare industry. The newest panel, Beyond Big Pharma, featured five investors from different middle-market pharma companies. With the eye-watering down payments and the strong resources provided, large pharma companies are widely considered the holy grail for co-development and exit options for early-stage therapeutics companies. However, more absent from the public eye are the clinical-stage, middle-market pharmaceutical companies, which also present unique opportunities for startups to advance or bring their products to the market.

During the discussion, the panelists addressed the benefits of partnering with middle-market pharmas and how it differs from large pharmas. The first thing to consider is that while there are only a handful of large pharmas, there are many mid-size, revenue-generating pharmas out there looking for partnerships. Being open to mid-size pharma means to have a lot more options and opportunities. Additionally, mid-sized pharmas boast flexibility due to their smaller size, which makes many willing to tweak programs and leverage their own knowledge or technologies to make the product successful.

Independent of company size, the current economic downturn and the potential effect on deal-making is having an impact that reverberates across the entire industry. Most panelists agreed that market capitalization has been decreasing and valuation will be depressed. It is going to be more difficult for startups to raise money and large, up-front payment will be less. Some panelists noted that this means more opportunities for them, as they can now consider companies or pipelines that otherwise will be too expensive. This also allows them to be more creative in the deal structures. Some mid-pharmas can now partner with startups on their lead programs, that otherwise will not be available because of their valuation.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the investment ecosystem, angel investors shared a similar view on the current market downturn, but with a different takeaway. In the Angel Investors panel, similar to the mid-pharma investors, the panelists also agreed on the outlook, and therefore, investors are going to be more cautious, and companies will need to be more creative with fundings and open to some of the relatively unconventional options, like impact investors, family offices and micro-VCs, etc. However, some panelists believe this re-adjustment of the market is necessary, as valuations in life science and healthcare have been driven up over the past few years. Some even speculated that the economic downturn could discourage venture tourists who turned to the life science and healthcare space because of hype.

Angels and many recent funds still have the dry powder to invest, especially given they syndicate on deals often. Good companies with strong scientific foundations and solid products will still be funded, and they should see this as an opportunity for them to stand out. Panelists suggested that companies be more practical. Instead of “selling dreams,” they should be raising for an exit, focusing more on product development, revenue and exit strategy, which are things that investors look for when being more cautious with their investments.

Want to learn more? Watch these panels by clicking the buttons below. Additionally, RESI returns September 21-23 to Boston, MA. Sign up by July 29 to save $300 on registration and join the conversation with hundreds of life science investors and early-stage founders.

---