A USA-based venture capital firm had its beginnings as an incubator, providing seed funding to very early-stage companies for the first two years. Since then, the firm has also branched into a venture arm that expanded the investment focus to Series A financing rounds. The firm is actively seeking investments and will allocate around $500K – 2.5 M, with preferred financing structures being equity and convertible preferred equity. Although the firm has invested in companies outside the USA, the firm focuses its investments on USA-based companies.
In the life sciences space, the firm is primarily interested in healthcare IT/digital health technologies and services as well as medical devices and diagnostic tools that have a tech-enabled component. The firm is open to devices of all FDA regulatory pathways including 510k and PMA. Products that have not begun clinical trials will most likely be considered too early, so these devices should at least be undergoing clinical trials. The firm is not interested in companies in the therapeutics sector.
The firm seeks to work with privately owned companies with an experienced management team that is dedicated full-time. CEOs with experience founding successful start-up companies is a strong plus. The firm can act as either a lead or co-investor in financing rounds, and will generally seek a board seat.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.
Hot Investor Mandate: Venture Fund Invests in the Earliest Stage Companies, Focusing on Pre-Seed Opportunities in Platform Technologies Including Therapeutics, Digital Health, and More
A thesis-driven earliest stage firm looks to lead investments in early-stage companies that are pre-seed. The firm is currently investing out of their second fund of USD 67 million. The firm primarily participates in equity investments including SAFEs but will consider other types of capital structures as requested by a founder. The firm invests largely in companies based in the United States and Canada but will also consider Europe and Latin America.
The firm is primarily interested in investing in companies in the digital health, diagnostics, and medical technology sectors with a focus in platform technologies. The firm will not consider investments in medical device companies. However, the firm will consider therapeutics with a platform technology component. The firm will only invest in technologies that are still pre-clinical and in development. The firm is disease agnostic and will consider companies across all indications including orphan diseases.
The firm will work with experienced and inexperienced management teams. The firm looks to invest in founders who are dedicated to their technology and their company. The firm is an active investor and will take an observer board seat as determined on a case-by-case basis. The firm prefers to act as a lead investor.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.
NIA Startup Challenge Finalists Shine in New Course
By Candice He, Vice President of Business Development, Global Investment Strategist, LSN
Last month, Life Science Nation (LSN) was honored to collaborate with The National Institute on Aging to provide our newest entrepreneurial course to the 20 finalists of the Healthy Aging Start-Up Challenge. The course consists of two pre-course digital sessions and two in-person days leading up to RESI Boston, which helped prepare the participants for global partnering initiatives.
The program started with two 2-hour pre-course virtual sessions, aiming to introduce the timeline, required tools, and materials of a fundraising campaign, as well as the fundamental knowledge of different types of investors and strategies for successful partnering.
The 2-Day Entrepreneurial Immersion Course, hosted at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, was delivered by LSN faculty and invited industry experts. The cohort received step-by-step instructions on managing global investor target lists and fundraising campaigns, and had interactive exercises on practicing tagline and elevator pitches with their mentors face-to-face, which motivated the innovators to polish their pitch with prompt guidance.
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A Shark Tank exercise concluded the course with each finalist delivering their pitch presentations to an investor panel of five, each with rich experience in the early-stage life science arena. Both NIA team and the entire faculty was highly impressed by how much the messaging had improved since the first day. Benefitting from the real-time feedback, many finalists considered the Shark Tank a vital rehearsal exercise before heading to RESI for investor meetings.
Feedback from the cohort of the NIA startup challenge:
“This was an amazing course. We had the opportunity to revise our tagline and elevator pitch with the feedback of our colleagues. We learned about various important topics related to launching a company. The mentors provided the support and guidance that we needed to keep improving and bring our innovation to life.”
“The RESI Conference was great for me. I casually met very impressive people in the digital health field, in the legal field, and in the venture capital field. I presented in the digital health group. The partnering platform was good to use to lead folks towards my startup as a bridge to a greeting. The platform itself also was structural in my approach to meet potential investors as a warm introduction. The platform was mentally structural in helping arrange my future fundraise.”
Transitioning from the world of academia to business is never easy, but the process can be efficient with directions from experts on what to expect and how to proceed. LSN continues building bridges between scientists and CEOs by offering more Entrepreneurial Courses to incubators, accelerators, and non-profit organizations worldwide. Contact us to learn more!
RESI Hybrid Bundle
By Rory McCann, Director of Marketing & Conference Producer, LSN
Given the very recent success of Life Science Nation (LSN)’s first in-person event in 2+ years, RESI Boston, the demand for early-stage life science partnering opportunities is higher than ever. LSN’s pivot to digital events proved that there is a need for virtual partnering to accommodate the high volume of deals in the sector with limited logistics. However, there is no replacement for a face-to-face meeting or connections over coffee. Therefore, LSN continues to develop both hybrid and virtual events, and is offering a special deal on both!
RESI San Francisco, January 10-12, 2023 is our return to the West Coast for a 3-day hybrid experience. In-person RESI kicks us off the first day, featuring expert panels, educational workshops, and the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge. This is followed by an additional two days of virtual partnering to accommodate the hustle and bustle of healthcare’s biggest partnering week of the year. Fundraising doesn’t start and stop with partnering events, which is why we are bundling Digital RESI, November 15-16 and RESI San Francisco registrations to enable continuous connections through the end of the year and the beginning of next.
Startups and Service Providers can save $1,000 on their bundle when they register by October 21. We hope you’ll join us and take advantage of the opportunity to maximize your fundraising efforts and meet with investors and strategic partners who are a fit for your product and stage of development. Bundle and save by October 21 for both Digital RESI November and RESI San Francisco!
Super Early Bird Rates End Tomorrow
By Antoinette Lowre, Manager of Business Development, LSN
Digital RESI, November 15-16, 2022 is a virtual-only dedicated partnering event designed to facilitate well-fitting meetings through matching attendees based on product and stage of development. What sets Digital RESI dedicated partnering apart from the Digital RESI 3-Day events and Hybrid RESIs is the focus on virtual partnering. Digital RESI is designed to make partnering between major events simpler by connecting startups with investors and channel partners who are a fit for their product and stage of development.
Digital RESI can be optimized without travel and at a reasonable rate for busy early-stage entrepreneurs. View a tutorial of the partnering platform here! The super early bird rates end tomorrow, Friday, October 7. Early-stage startups can save $300 when they register by tomorrow!
Hot Investor Mandate: USA-Based Single Family Office Invests in North American Companies Developing Breakthrough Life Science Technologies in Gene Therapies, Orthopedics, and More
A single family office representing USA-based family interests is very flexible in terms of investment size, but are generally looking to invest a minimum of $.5 million per round, depending upon size of round and estimated capital call. The firm prefers A round and later stage companies. Pre-A interest depends upon technology stage. Currently, the firm is investing only in companies based in North America.
The firm is looking for breakthrough technologies with a strong social ethos in the Therapeutics, Medical Devices, and Diagnostics Sectors that address underserved medical needs or provide innovative and disruptive approaches to common medical procedures and treatments. Currently, of particular interest are optical or sound-based technologies, devices that supplant drug use, orthopedics, gene/nucleic acid-based therapies, immuno-oncology and therapies correcting or treating loss of senses.
The firm is currently reviewing co-investment opportunities in private companies and on an opportunistic basis, considering investment in micro-and small-cap public companies as a direct investor. The firm is looking for companies that have already raised seed financing and have received allowance of claims by the USPTO.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.
Hot Investor Mandate: Investment Firm in USA Allocates Up to $30M in Medical Devices, Diagnostics, Digital Health Companies, Primarily Looking Into the Boston Area
A venture capital firm headquartered in the USA. With about USD 600 million in assets under management, the firm looks to participate in pre-seed to pre-IPO funding. The firm launched a second fund expects to complete fundraising by Q2 2023. The firm will typically make between 15 and 20 new investments per year and will typically make follow up investments in existing portfolio companies. Typical investments range between USD 100 thousand and USD 30 million. The firm will utilize various capital structures as determined on a case-by-case basis including equity investments debt, convertible loans, and SAFEs. The firm invests primarily in companies in the Boston area.
The firm will make investments across all modalities within the medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health sectors. The firm has made and will consider investments in therapeutics as well but prefers to focus on platform technologies. The firm will invest in therapeutics that are pre-NDA as well as medical and diagnostic technology that is in development and clinical. The firm will invest in all classes of medical devices including Class II (510k) and Class III (PMA). The firm is disease agnostic and will consider companies across all indications.
The firm will work with both experienced and inexperienced management teams but tends to avoid management teams led by a journeyman CEO. The firm will participate as a lead investor, co-investor, and follow-on investor. The firm will take an active board seat if acting as the lead investor but tends to take a board observer seat if acting as a co-investor. The firm will not take any board seat if acting as a follow-on investor.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.
