Hot Mandate: VC Invests In Tech-Based Digital Health or Diagnostics Companies With China Angle

Founded in 2002, a venture capital firm is looking to invest in tech-based digital health and diagnostics companies looking to expand to the Chinese market. The firm primarily invests in European companies but will consider US-based companies as well. The firm looks to leverage their connections in China and the Chinese market to help its portfolio companies, and usually invests between $2-10M in each company, taking a 15-30% equity stake. The firm prefers to be a lead investor, taking an active role in their portfolio companies and typically make 2 investments per year, depending on their fund cycle. In cases where the firm does not invest funds, they are also willing to offer consulting services for equity, connecting companies with strategic partners in China.

The firm has an additional partnership model that, instead of making direct investments, licenses technologies through a Chinese platform company, acting as a focused distributor for entry into the Chinese market. This is the firm’s alternate investment approach to bring these technologies to the Chinese market, by utilizing this Chinese platform company to serve as their portfolio company’s representative in China to navigate the regulatory environment and spearhead all of the sales and marketing.

The firm is interested in tech-based companies that are not consumer-focused, such as diagnostics tools or AI/machine learning technologies in the healthcare space. The firm has some experience with pathology and diagnostic-related companies but is willing to consider other areas as well. The firm prefers to invest in a few companies within the same area, choosing complementary technologies between their portfolio companies. The firm will consider companies with technologies that are in development or in pilot stages. The firm is an active investor and takes a board seat for every company in which they invest.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email 4dmeetsai@lifesciencenation.com.

Hot Mandate: Asia Based VC With Strong Interest In Drug Discovery Platforms Leveraging AI/ML

A venture capital firm founded in 2005 is headquartered in Singapore and Shanghai, with additional offices in Hong Kong, New York, and San Diego. In 2017, the firm closed the 5th fund of over $220M and is actively seeking investment opportunities across a wide range of industries. 1/3 of the fund is dedicated to global/USA-based life sciences and healthcare investments, while the rest of the fund will focus on investing in China and Southeast Asia-based companies. In addition, the firm is expecting to close its sixth fund, Fund VI, this year, targeting $500M. On average, the initial size of investment is in the $2-5M range but the firm has the capacity to invest more in companies they identify as a strong fit. The firm can participate anywhere from Seed to Series B, but Series A is their sweet spot.

The firm is an opportunistic investor and will consider therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and healthcare IT companies. However, the firm will generally avoid single therapeutic assets and those that are pre-clinical or earlier. The firm is open to novel medical devices of all FDA regulatory pathways, including 510k and PMA. The firm is strongly interested in platform plays, or technologies that have implications in multiple disease areas or indications. Examples include novel drug delivery platforms, drug discovery platforms that leverage AI or machine learning, regenerative medicine, etc.

The firm considers the management team’s character and entrepreneurial spirit – more so than the team’s experience – as one of the most important factors in the investment screening process. Each partner of the firm will dedicate their time to become acquainted with the management team and determine their degree of fit. The targeted market and the company’s competitive edge are also important considerations. The firm prefers to act as the lead investor and will seek board representation, but is also open to co-investing.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email 4dmeetsai@lifesciencenation.com.

Hot Mandate: California Based VC Interested in ML/AI Applications In Digital Health

Founded in 2005 and located in California, a venture capital company has just under $70 million in assets across 2 funds and makes equity investments into companies ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to two million with additional capital reserved for follow-on rounds. The firm is looking for companies located throughout the United States and plans to make 4 new investments over the next 6-9 months.

The firm is looking for companies developing Medical Devices, Diagnostics, Healthcare IT products and Life Science Research Tools with an emphasis on fast-to-market, low capital intense products that reduce the cost of delivering quality healthcare. For Healthcare IT investments the firm is most interested in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) applications and is generally not interested in Telehealth and EMR solutions. The firm is open to all sub-sectors and indications in the Medical technology space except for those targeting diseases and disorders of the spine. The firm will invest in both seed and later-stage companies.

The firm is looking for companies with skilled and experienced management teams. The firm generally looks to take a board seat into companies after investment and play an active role in the management. The firm is willing to invest in both public and privately held companies.

If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email 4dmeetsai@lifesciencenation.com.

Healthtech Partnering Week: Meet the Panelists!

By Rory McCann, Marketing Manager & Conference Producer, LSN

Healthtech Partnering Week (HPW) launches in a few weeks and we want to highlight our esteemed panel faculty coming together to share the latest insights in early-stage life science and healthcare. Each panel is structured to tackle a variety of concerns relevant to fundraising executives that are timely and relevant to each major sector, and even specific indications.

Click the panelist photo below to learn more about their panel participation and to sign up for HPW!


Sascha Berger
TVM Capital Life Science

Jean Anne Booth
UnaliWear Inc.

Nat Brinn
VC23

Ivan Burkov
INKEF Capital

Barbara Clarke
The Impact Sea

Evan Cohen
Healthbox

Michele Colucci
DigitalDx Ventures

Marina Cortes
Hike Ventures LLC

Terence Craig
The Impact Seat

Ruchi Dana
DANA Group of Companies

Anne DeGheest
HealthTech Capital

Bettina Ernst
BERNINA BioInvest

Howard Fillit
Alzheimers Drug Discovery Foundation

Mary Furlong
Mary Furlong & Associates

Robert Garber
7wire Ventures

Amit Garg
Tau Ventures

Scott Gazelle
GreyBird Ventures

Tom Gibbs
Debiopharm Innovation Fund

Sam Goldberger
Ambit Health Ventures

Mark Gray
Constant Companion

Chris Haskell
Bayer

Katherine Hill Ritchie
Nottingham Spirk Family Office

Richard Hughen
Linshom

Alicia Irurzun-Lafitte
UCB Ventures

Stephen Johnston
Aging2.0

Kobus Jooste
Syllable

Arnd Kaltofen
VI Partners

Justin Kelly
AXA Venture Partners

Chris Kent
ODS Medical Inc.

Oliver Keown
Intuitive Surgical

Lily Kim
OS Fund

Kristin King
Boston Harbor Angels

Richard Kivel
GrayBella Capital

Daniella Kranjac
Dynamk Capital

David Lapointe
Optina Diagnostics

Thierry Laugel
Kurma Partners

Taja Lester
Health Equity Capital

George Li
Proxima Ventures

Lisa Mendoza
Bayer

Andy Merken
Burns & Levinson

Junaid Mian
SP8CEVC

Neal Mody
Zoic Capital

Richard Morphy
Parkinson's UK

Richard Mulry
Northwell Ventures

Jonathan Ng
Iterative Scopes

Laurie Orlov
Aging and Health Technology

Martin Pfister
High-Tech Gründerfonds

Stephen Pitt
Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Varun Ramdevan
Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Meghana Rao
Johnson & Johnson Innovation

David Rhew
Microsoft

João Ribas
Novo Holdings A/S

Jeffrey Ries
Healthbox

Christopher Rowan
Cove Fund

Florence Rozen
Fonds de solidarité FTQ

Kerry Rupp
True Wealth Ventures

Chirag Shah
Define Ventures

Todd Smith
OdessaConnect

Sherri Snelling
Caregiving Club

Patrik Sobocki
Industrifonden

Catello Somma
TVM Capital Life Science

Weiyong Sun
Daiichi Sankyo

Hung-Loi (Lloyd) Tran
Transpacific Venture Capital Partners

Rick Voight
Vivid-Pi

Tad Weems
Agilent Technologies

Mishael Zohar
OrbiMed Advisors LLC

Khat Zorig
Innospark Ventures

Meghan Zubradt
Johnson & Johnson Innovation

Life Science Nation and YAFO Capital Announce ACCESS CHINA Forum (Spring 2021) – China Innovation Out-Licensing Event at Healthtech Partnering Week

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

In 2021, Life Science Nation (LSN) launched the digital Healthtech Partnering Week (HPW), which consists of the renowned digital Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) 3-day event, 4D Meets AI 2-day event, and the Longevity, Health & Innovation (LHI) 2-day event, and now introducing ACCESS CHINA 2-day forum. LSN introduced this new open-concept conference theme in order that other independent conferences could participate in the week-long event with access to LSN’s premier partnering capability, which matches early-stage companies with strategic investment and licensing partners. HPW welcomes global partnering events to leverage the LSN global partner network, providing an incredible value to all attendees.

YAFO Capital‘s ACCESS CHINA Forum is a quarterly corporate access event series between China and Western biopharma. It is a leading deal-making platform for Western pharma and biotech leaders looking to enter or expand in the Chinese market, and for Chinese companies to enter the global market. ACCESS CHINA Spring Forum, which focuses on China biotech innovation and out-licensing opportunities, adds to the HPW momentum. The Forum creates a great opportunity for LSN’s buy-side global partner network of investors, pharma and corporate strategics seeking equity and licensing opportunities to look at elite technology assets coming out of Asia. The scientist-entrepreneurs and fundraising CEOs coming to HPW via ACCESS CHINA Forum will be able to make new connections with global partners that will help them transition from their regional markets to the global arena.

LSN welcomes any firm that has a standalone life science partnering event happening simultaneously with HPW to join forces. YAFO Capital’s ACCESS CHINA Forum is a great example of how we can work together and deliver elite technology assets to a broader investor and strategic partner audience. Our goal is to reach across borders and events to raise the tide of early-stage partnering and lift all fundraising efforts in order to advance the latest in life-saving technologies and healthcare treatments.

Sign up to join Healthtech Partnering Week and take advantage of our global network of partners!

Free Webinar: Strategies for Successful Partnering

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

Life Science Nation (LSN) has recently held two free webinars outlining strategies for successful partnering. Whether new to LSN and our early stage partnering events, or a frequent participant seeking to optimize their experience, it’s our goal that you have access to learn how to use the platform well, so you can spend more time meeting investors and making deals.

Healthtech Partnering Week (HPW) launches March 15-19, and there’s still time to sign up and even apply for the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) – applications are due tomorrow, February 26! If you’re an early stage fundraising executive unsure of what makes a powerful partnering platform, we invite you to watch our latest webinar on strategies for success partnering. Learn more and sign up at https://www.healthtechpartneringweek.com/.

Hot Investor Mandate: VC Firm Invests Up to $6M in Life Science Companies Seeking to Enter China Market, Open to All Sectors

A venture capital firm with main offices in China currently manages three funds including both RMB and USD funds. On average, the initial size of investment is in the $1-6M range, but the firm has the capacity to invest more in companies they identify as a strong fit. The firm has several innovation centers across China focusing on different special areas in life sciences and medical devices. With over 8 years operating experience of international medical technology incubators, the firm looks to tailor its services to help portfolio companies reaching key value-added milestones. The firm will consider opportunities based in China and around the globe. The firm is actively supporting global companies to China market by leveraging the fund’s connections with leading hospitals and KOLs in China.

The firm is a flexible and opportunistic investor that is currently considering Therapeutics, Medical Devices, Diagnostics, AI, and Biotechnology R&D Services. The firm is opportunistic in terms of sub-sector and indication and is willing to consider companies targeting orphan indications. The firm is open to novel medical devices of all FDA regulatory pathways, including 510k and PMA. In terms of therapeutics, the firm will look at products in pre-clinical stages. Regarding medical devices and diagnostics, the firm will invest at any stage of development.

The firm will invest in privately held companies only, and the firm can participate as either lead or co-investor. The firm has no specific requirements for the management team. 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.