RESI on MaRS Double Panel Announcement – Early Stage Therapeutic Investors and Incubators & Accelerators Share Their Perspectives

By Christine A. Wu, Research Analyst, LSN

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Early Stage Therapeutic Investors

It is well known that early stage therapeutic companies require a significant source of funding due to the long road of development. Despite therapeutic companies’ high-risk development timeline, many investors continue to remain focused on investing in biotechnology with a steadfast belief in the potential of the space.

For RESI on MaRS (June 23rd), LSN has assembled five highly experienced investors particularly interested in biotech therapeutics. Held in the heart of Canada’s healthcare innovation hub, MaRS Discovery District, the Early Stage Therapeutic Investors Panel will be moderated by Cynthia Lavoie, Partner of TVM Capital, and will be joined by:

The panel will serve as an educational opportunity for scientist entrepreneurs to better understand the trends in investment in therapeutics, the investor’s perspective when approaching a deal in a high-risk space, and the best approach to initiate dialogue with them.

This is a tremendous opportunity for biotech life science entrepreneurs to meet and develop relationships with potential investors.

Incubators & Accelerators

It’s a huge challenge to launch a healthcare startup, but an increasing number of incubators and accelerator programs are stepping up to support early stage entrepreneurs and provide services, facilities and capital to speed their paths to market.

Leaders from five of these organizations are gathering at RESI on MaRS to share their experience of working with very early stage companies, and to explore how a startup can work with an incubator or accelerator partner to get ahead on their development pathway.

The moderator, Rebecca Yu, Head of JLABS @ Toronto, will be joined by:

Register for RESI@MaRS now to meet these investors in person.

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Hot Investor Mandate 1: Firm Raises New Impact Fund For Early Stage Oncology Drugs

A venture capital firm with offices in Boston, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California has raised a $470 million oncology impact fund through a joint venture. The firm typically makes investments ranging from $3 to $25 million depending on the target company’s stage of development and capital requirements. The firm will consider investment into companies located anywhere around the globe. The firm makes 3-4 new investments annually.

The firm is currently focused on companies developing therapeutics, in particular oncology and regenerative medicine, however they will also consider investments into companies developing platform technologies. While the firm considers investment from seed stage to PIPE (private investment in public equity) the firm’s ideal company has an asset that is pre-clinical or in early clinical trials.

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

Hot Investor Mandate 2: Medtech Corporation Seeks Seed & Series A Deals in Connected Devices and Telemedicine

An international corporation in the imaging sector has established 5 innovation investment offices worldwide.  The firm seeks to make Seed to Series A investments of less than $5 million for less than 20% equity in private companies. Collaborative R&D can also be considered. The firm is currently looking for opportunities around the world.

The innovation investment program seeks to strengthen the firm’s core imaging business, explore new areas of innovation, and identify key players in their focused ecosystems. Within healthcare, the firm focuses on telemedicine and connected device solutions for applications such as patient management and virtual clinics. The firm considers products that have completed prototypes or achieved proof of concept with a clear path to FDA clearance (for 510K devices).

The firm closely collaborate with a diverse range of entities, such as academic institutes, research institutes, partner companies, and startups. The firm would like to obtain distribution rights in Japan; however, this is not a requirement for collaboration.

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

Hot Investor Mandate 3: Family Office Invests In Data-Driven Healthcare and Robotics

A family office invests from an evergreen fund focused on seed to later-stage companies building infrastructure and value chains around big data, including but not limited to health and life science data. Typical investment sizes range from $250K – $1M for early-stage companies. Additional capital for follow-on investments is available for portfolio companies. Along with capital, the firm also provides access to their Asian network for later-stage companies needing market expansion (once all other aspects of the company’s business have been resolved). There is not a requirement for a board seat along with investments.  The fund is focused on U.S. companies (with a focus on Silicon Valley), but will consider companies globally.

The firm invests in companies that are creating solutions to close the data feedback loop, including capturing data, analytics and instruments/robotics. The firm is interested in medical devices, diagnostics and healthcare IT products, with addressable markets of at least $1B. In the diagnostics field, m-health devices and genomics are of particular interest. AME is open to all sub-sectors of health IT including consumer-facing hardware/software, data collection/management and data analytics. The firm will invest in medical devices and diagnostics that require FDA approval, with 510K regulatory pathway being the most common, although devices/services that require different regulatory pathways will also be considered. Companies developing hardware or robotics that automate scientific life science experiments are also of interest. The firm does not make any investments in therapeutics.

There are no formal requirements for management teams, but management teams with experience commercializing products are preferred.

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

Hot Investor Mandate 4: European Firm Raises New Fund For Early Stage Therapeutics and Devices

A venture capital firm based in Europe focused solely on the life sciences has recently closed a new fund and is actively looking for investments, usually in series A rounds. Typically, the firm allocates €8M-€10M over the life of the investment with about half of that amount up front, in the initial investment. The firm primarily invests in companies that are based in mainland Europe, but will also consider opportunities in North America.

The firm invests solely in biotech therapeutics and medical devices. For biotech, the firm invests in pre-clinical up unto phase II assets. For medical devices, the firm prefers companies with with initial clinical proof-of-concept up unto reaching regulatory approval, whether that be PMA or 510(k) approval. The firm is not interested in diagnostic technologies. The firm is agnostic in terms of subsectors and indications, including orphan indications, but is very interested in products that address clear unmet opportunities. Historically, the firm invested in biotech therapeutics that address inflammatory, oncology, respiratory, autoimmune, and cardiovascular disorders. Medical devices include a non-active implantable device for pulmonary embolism, as well as devices for renal and vascular diseases.

The firm requests a board seat in each portfolio company. The firm seeks a company with a strong and experienced management team or technical experts in the relevant technology.

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

Put The Spotlight On Your Company in the RESI Innovation Challenge

Every 90 days, RESI gathers hundreds of active early stage life science investors for a one-day partnering event. RESI Innovation Challenge finalists are provided with an all day showcase to attract the attention of those investors using their branding and messaging. It’s a unique opportunity to be a featured company in the life sciences industry. All applicants are vetted by LSN’s scientific review team, with a view to not just the quality of the company’s scientific work, but also the strength of the management team and how well-positioned the company is to receive investment.

What makes the RESI Innovation Challenge so valuable?  We’ve included a few words from previously successful participants below, but in short, being part of the Innovation Challenge provides startups with a new way to get attention and start dialogues with the investors who attend RESI.  Participants can share their message all day in the exhibit hall, with their Innovation Challenge display providing a starting point for a meaningful conversation about the opportunity.

Here is what our previous winners are saying about the RESI Innovation Challenge:

“I love the RESI Innovation Challenge because it is a great way to give our pitch to practice it and try to obtain a scarce resource from these investors. Practicing with these investors is a great way to build relationships and continue that on to the real investment conversations.”

– Niko Skievaski, Co-Founder, Redox

1st Place, RESI@TMCx, June 8, 2015

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“The RESI Innovation Challenge is a really good opportunity to meet investors and other companies in the space.  It’s a good showcase to reach that audience.”

– Jessica Ching, CEO, Eve Medical

2nd Place, RESI San Francisco, January 12, 2016

“The RESI Innovation Challenge is a unique way to pitch, and provides a great opportunity to see what other companies are doing in the industry, while allowing you to meet with potential investors and strategic partners outside of the partnering meetings.”

– John Connolly, VP Corporate Development, Rna Diagnostics

1st Place, RESI Boston, September 16, 2015

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“RESI offers small companies like GeneSegues a direct line to potential partners and potential investors in a small setting conducive to relationship building and conversation. The Innovation Challenge was a particularly great way to introduce our company to a broader audience than I could meet with personally which allowed us to leverage the showcasing of our technology more efficiently.”

-Laura M. Brod,Chief Executive Officer,GeneSegues Therapeutics

-1st Place, RESI @TMCx, April 11, 2016

RESI@TMCx April 11, 2016

1st Place
Laura Brod, CEO, GeneSegues
2nd Place
Austin Dirks, CEO & CO-Founder, GreenLight Medical
3rd Place
Alexander Schüller, President, Adhesys

RESI San Francisco January 12, 2016

1st Place
 Shravanthi Reddy, COO, ClearSight
2nd Place
Jessica Ching, CEO, Eve Medical
3rd Place
Jonathan W. Gunn, JD, PhD, CEO & Co-founder

RESI Boston September 16, 2015

1st Place
Jonathan W. Gunn, JD, PhD, CEO & Co-founder, Rna Diagnostics
2nd Place
Matthew R. Gevaert, Ph.D. CEO & Co-founder
3rd Place
Kenneth J. Slepicka, CEO & Director

RESI@TMCx June 8, 2015

1st Place
Niko Skievaski, Co-founder, Redox
2nd Place
Wade Lange, CEO, NeuroFx
3rd Place
Laura Bosworth, CEO & co-founder, TeVido BioDevices

RESI San Francisco January 13, 2015

1st Place
Shawn Iadonato, Ph.D., CEO, Kineta
2nd Place
Eric Goslau, CEO, Transverse Medical
3rd Place
Robert Thompson, President & CEO, Amorphex Therapeutics

RESI Boston September 17, 2014

1st Place
Robin Smith, CEO, ORIG3N
2nd Place
Jeff Missling, CEO, SpineThera
3rd Place
Kurt Dieck, President & CEO, Biosortia

RESI Boston March 24, 2014

1st Place
Pam Randhawa, Founder & CEO, EMPIRIKO
2nd Place
Marcia Fournier, CEO, BIOARRAY
3rd Place
Magdalena Leszczyniecka, President & CEO, STC Biologics
Tasos Smeros, Founder & CEO, Multineurons

Apply today for the chance to join!

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Hot Investor Mandate 1: Family Office Seeks Novel Therapeutic Platforms From Preclinical-Phase II

A family office investment vehicle based in New York City is looking to provide equity capital to high growth companies in the life science space usually in Series A or B rounds. The firms typically deal size is highly variable generally going as high as $5million for an initial investment. and depends on each individuals companies position and funding needs. The firm is currently interested in companies located throughout the US and Canada and is looking to make approximately 2-3 investments over the next year months.

The firm is currently looking for companies developing therapeutics. The firm is opportunistic in terms of sub sector and indication, but has a preference for companies with platform technologies. The firm is not interested in biosimilar or reformulation type opportunities. The firm is willing to invest in companies with a lead asset in preclinical through Phase II of clinical trials.

The firm looks to invest in companies with experienced management teams and is very open to investing in syndicates. The firm is interested in investing into pre-revenue firms, although the firm will not consider making seed stage investments. The firm is capable to act as either a lead or a co-investor and generally seeks board or board observer rights.

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