Hot Investor Mandate: Venture Firm With Global Presence Looks For All Innovations Related to Longevity and Age-Related Diseases, Most Interested in Therapeutics & Diagnostics Companies

28 Apr

An investment firm headquartered in Europe, with additional offices in USA and Asia seeks to invest in innovations directly related to the prevention of age-associated diseases, extension of a healthy lifespan, and improving the performance of humans and animals. The firm’s initial check size can range from $500K – 1.5M, and the firm is open to global opportunities.

Within life sciences, the firm is most interested in therapeutics and diagnostics companies, and will also consider digital health. Medical devices with traditional regulatory pathways are generally out of scope for the firm. Within these sectors, interest areas can include gene therapy, telomere attrition, proteostasis, regenerative medicine, personalized diagnostics/biomarkers, preventative therapies, cognitive enhancement, and more. That said, the firm has no strong interest in particular technologies and is open to all modalities. The firm is also opportunistic in terms of stage of development.

The firm seeks companies with strong, protectable IP with clear origins and ownership, backed by a diverse team with a strong track record and technologies with validated proof of concept. The firm has a 3-step due diligence process which includes: (1) initial review, (2) additional review – where the firm looks more closely into main differentiating factors of the company (IP, business model, etc.), and (3) final review. The firm is open to leading, co-leading, or co-investing, and has a strong co-investment and syndication network of likeminded investors.

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

LSN Conducts Entrepreneurial Master Class Workshop for 100 Fulbright Foreign Students

26 Apr

By Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series

LSN taught a 3-day entrepreneurial workshop entitled “Biomedical Innovations and Startups” for 100 Fulbright Foreign Students who are currently studying and conducting research at institutions across the United States. This seminar is part of the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, an academic and cultural exchange program, funded by the U.S. Department of State. The workshop took place in Boston over the weekend, and it was a great experience sharing LSN’s knowledge of the early-stage life science arena.

The purpose of the seminar was to provide the Fulbrighters with an opportunity to explore and examine the process of taking life-saving inventions from ideation and creation stages to the public market. The life science domain is unique in that a startup entity’s journey starts with academic tech transfer agreements, which lead to regional and national government non-dilutive funding followed by capital investors and licensing partners. LSN has a decade of expertise in the startup universe helping hundreds of companies raise billions of dollars through its products and services. LSN has developed a curriculum that it delivers as part of its Focus on Cures Accelerator which offers several master class workshops to global tech hubs and incubators. This particular workshop highlighted the core elements of launching an early-stage company’s branding and a messaging in conjunction with a global partnering campaign. The theme of the workshop was finding your entrepreneurial voice, developing a compelling narrative and then clearly tell the story of team, product, company milestones and partnering strategy. Topics covered included:

  • How to find your entrepreneurial voice and the importance of getting your story straight
  • How to generate a global target list of capital investors and licensing partners who could provide the funds and services necessary to grow your business
  • How to perform a thorough competitive landscape analysis
  • How to use multiple modalities (from tagline to executive summary to pitch deck) to cogently tell your company story

The 3-day entrepreneurial workshop concluded with a pitch competition that highlighted not only the talent and entrepreneurial agency that the Fulbrighters possessed, but that the key take-home messages of the master class had been well integrated and understood. We can expect many of these students to be industry leaders in the coming years and were honored to have been a part of their journey.

IMG_5788LSN Judge team, Dennis Ford, Candice He, and Alex Vassallo, with first place Fulbright Team of the Pitch Competition.

Who’s Getting Funded?

21 Apr

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

Life Science Nation (LSN) has built a funding superstructure over the past decade, but what is the true metric of success in the complex early-stage life science ecosystem? The number of companies funded, and the amount allocated are terrific metrics, but when consumed as comprehensive and independent of context, this data can be misleading and unhelpful. Let’s dive into LSN’s tracking of these companies and discuss the value this data holds and how it can work for you.

As previously mentioned, LSN tracks companies funded in part through participating at the Redefining Early Stage Investment (RESI) partnering conferences, subscribing to the LSN Investor Database, or using our Branding, Messaging and Matching services. The organic nature of partnering, along with its typical 9–18-month timeline, makes it challenging to track and verify, therefore, this data is typically self-reported by our partners and verified through public press releases. As such, we estimate this list makes up only about a third of these deals with LSN as part of the strategy, as many cannot be publicly disclosed. The funded partner list consists of nearly 85 startups across early-stage life science and healthcare with deals valuing more than $1.3B that have used LSN’s products and services as part of the campaign strategy. Check out the basic structure of these deals below:

Chart-1

From the data, we see that the 4Ds (Drugs, Devices, Diagnostics, and Digital Health) that LSN focuses on are broadly represented in the number of companies that receive funding, but they are not the only companies that investors are pursuing. Additionally, therapeutics leads the pack, despite the reputation that pre-clinical, early-stage therapeutics are too great a risk for investors to jump into. Learn more about that in our recent interviews with RESI Innovator’s Pitch Challenge winners: OncoXome CEO, Auriane Gamelin and Prolifagen CEO, Claudine Bruck.

Chart-2

We see that early-stage deal flow is alive and well in the life sciences, but not all capital is the same. Know what you want but keep an open mind when meeting with relevant and knowledgeable partners who are a fit for you. Early-stage fundraising is a critical point in a startup’s development and growth, but these partnerships will last beyond the round and will play a large part in bringing your company forward.

The tools LSN offers are powerful, but what these funded companies also have in common is leg work. LSN helps companies build their global target list of capital investors and licensing partners through services, data, and events, but it’s the founders and their stories that shine in those meetings. Every successful raise has dedicated, hard-working, creative, and resourceful founders and team members doing research, booking meetings, and pitching to investors who are a fit for their product and stage of development. LSN has long provided guidance and resources to help entrepreneurs, but it’s their own work that gets them over the finish line.

Has LSN played a role in your fundraising or investing? Tell us your story! We want to add your deal to our list and share what you have learned throughout the process. If you’re interested in learning more about what LSN can help you achieve in your own global fundraising campaign, connect with our business development team!

Want to learn more? The Business Development team at Life Science Nation is available to answer questions and share additional details to help you meet your partnership goals!
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Greg Mannix
Vice President International Business Development
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Candice He
VP, Business Development & Global Investment Strategist
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Antoinette Lowre
Manager of Business Development
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Alexander Vassallo
Manager of Business Development
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What’s New for Tech Hubs at RESI?

21 Apr

By Erika Wu, Business Development Manager, Global Tech Hub, LSN

At the Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conferences, tech hubs represent a global ecosystem of accelerators, incubators, non-profits, universities, and regional and government organizations who set up their early-stage life science startups for success with their entrepreneurship journey. RESI has hosted tech hubs ranging from National Institute of Aging (NIA), Lyon Biopole, IntuitiveX, University of British Columbia, and more.

Through RESI partnership, tech hub constituents gain access to resources beyond partnering, such as Life Science Nation (LSN)’s Investor Database, the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC), and free workshops to help develop strong relationships with investors and secure necessary early-stage funding.

This year, LSN has developed updated and personalized programs to further benefit tech hubs and their constituents. Check out a preview of our updated 2022 programs to promote tech hub involvement and accelerate growth of each individual constituent. Each option is available for tech hubs to take advantage of to add value to their constituents who raised less than $2M:

For Tech Hub Constituents:

  • 50% discount for constituent registration at any virtual or hybrid RESI conference (constituent must be from LSN’s tech hub partners)
  • Group Fundraising Database Package (3 companies minimum):
    • 4-month access to the Investor Database
    • Free constituent registration + pitching slot at any virtual or hybrid RESI conference

For Tech Hub Staff:

  • Bronze Sponsorship ($2,500 annually):
    • Free tech hub staff registration at any virtual or hybrid RESI conference
    • 50% discount for constituent registration at any virtual or hybrid RESI conference
    • Dedicated pitch session
    • Exhibition slot

If you’re a member of a tech hub or looking to add value to your members, reach out to see which offerings best fit your needs. From lab to clinic, and providers to patients, LSN is accelerating the growth and success of companies emerging from tech hubs. Schedule a meeting with Erika Wu, Business Development Manager, Global Tech Hub at Life Science Nation.

Stories from the Pitch

21 Apr

By Rory McCann, Marketing Manager & Conference Producer, LSN

Pitching is unavoidable when raising capital, and the process of pitching to early-stage investors can be incredibly daunting, especially for first-time founders. Life Science Nation (LSN) is hosting another Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) at Digital RESI, June 7-9. This opportunity provides sector-based pitch sessions for 4-5 founders to pitch directly to a panel of investors in their field. LSN also provides free prep resources including a webinar reviewing the pitch session format and materials. The business development team at LSN also offers complimentary review of finalists’ marketing materials.

While pitching can be scary, it doesn’t need to be, and LSN assists founders by providing the tools necessary for them to be successful. Check out stories from previous IPC winners to learn how they approached pitching at RESI.

Be sure to join the next free bootcamp: Preparing to Pitch at RESI on Wednesday, April 27 at 1 PM EDT. Applications to pitch at Digital RESI June close on Friday, April 29, so get yours in today!

Hot Investor Mandate: Private Investment Firm Seeks to Invest in Therapeutics and Digital Health Technologies, Including Precision Medicine and Digital Therapeutics

21 Apr

A private investment firm was founded in 1965 and is based in California, USA. The firm invests in seed and early-stage digital health and therapeutic companies. The typical investment size for seed investment ranges from $500K to $1M (usually in equity or capped, convertible notes). For early-stage companies, the firm typically co-invests with other VC firms in Seed and Series A financing and the investment size will depend on the company’s financial needs. The firm is geographically agnostic but prefers start-ups to be based in the United States. The firm is actively seeking new investment opportunities.

The firm is actively seeking new investment opportunities in the digital health sector and areas of interest include: Precision medicine, digital therapeutics, combination data products, scalability solutions and clinical trial management solutions.

The firm often leads financings and takes a board seat, but prefers to syndicate on opportunities.

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

Hot Investor Mandate: Europe-Based VC Investing Up To 1M EUR Opportunistically in European Companies That Are Less Than 3 Years Old 

21 Apr

The firm is a venture capital firm that was founded in 2005 and it is based in Germany. The firm with about EUR 900 million under management currently invests out of its third fund. The firm focuses on investments in technology-based early stage companies in life science industry among other technologically oriented industries. The venture capitalist provides initial investments of up to EUR 600,000-1 million. The firm will also reserve a further EUR 3 million for follow-on financing and supports the start-ups in acquiring other investors and partners. The firm is interested in companies that have been in operation for less than one year. The firm typically targets 12-15 life science investments per year. The firm invests primarily in Germany but also has the capacity to invest in other parts of Europe with ties to Germany. For the first investment, startups should be less than 3 years old. 

The firm is looking for new opportunities in the life science space including therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, material sciences, chemicals, regenerative energies and healthcare IT sectors. The firm is opportunistic in terms of sector, subsectors and indications, but it focuses on companies with a significant technological innovation or business model and close to proof of concept. The firm’s investments to date have included life science companies developing medical devices, vaccines, drugs development, diagnostic services, chemicals and platform technologies. 

The firm only invests in seed-stage companies located in Germany (or at least with ties to Germany: money spend there). The founding team should have the relevant know-how, complimentary skills and relevant business / industry experience. Outside of Germany, the firm only invests as a co-investor alongside a local investor. 

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

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