By Natasha Eldridge, Marketing Manager, Life Science Nation
As cost concerns in healthcare rise and medical device technology advances, LSN has encountered a large number of investors who take an interest in the convergence of medical devices and software. Many investors are interested in the potential of this new wave of connected medical and diagnostic devices, which will collect and transmit biological data in order to monitor chronic conditions and warn of complications before they occur. The Internet of Medtech has the potential to change how healthcare is delivered, with data bridging the gap between providers and patients.
At RESI @ TMCx, LSN has introduced a new panel session devoted to investment in this rapidly developing field of innovation. Moderated by Michael Greeley, General Partner, Foundation Medical Partners, the audience will hear from:
The five investors will share their approach to the Internet of Medtech, discussing important fundraising issues such as: How can you demonstrate that your connected device has the potential to provide clinical benefits? What areas of healthcare are most in need of connected device innovation? How should an Internet of Medtech entrepreneur build a market for their new device?
The operational and investment arm of a family office is looking to make equity investments into early stage companies and small mid-market growth companies ranging from $.5 to $1 million. The firm is very open to syndication particularly with early stage deals and is capable of providing additional capital in follow on rounds when appropriate. The firm prefers to invest in companies located in the eastern United States and looks to make approximately 1-2 new investments per year.
The firm is looking for companies in the Medical Technology and Diagnostics space. Within these areas the firm is looking for 510k devices that are more technically based with a particular interest in hospital equipment and professional diagnostics. The firm is not interest in devices where the final consumer is the patient. The firm is looking to devices that improve the standard of care and is willing to invest in companies at all phases of development. The firm is generally open to all indications.
The firm looks for experienced management teams and looks to take a board seat following investment. The firm is willing to work with companies that have incomplete management teams and is looking for privately held companies.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
The corporate venture capital arm of a large pharmaceutical company is currently looking to make equity investments into early stage life science companies. The firm has the ability to allocate up to $10 million dollars per company, generally in milestone driven tranches. The firm is able to invest in companies from around the globe and is actively seeking new investment opportunities.
The firm is looking for early stage companies working with therapeutics and companion diagnostics. The firm is open to review both small molecules and biologics as well as companies working with single assets or platform technologies. The firm seeks to invest in indication areas including Immunology, Oncology, Immunoncology, MS, and Fertility. The firm generally looks for companies with assets that are pre-clinical or in Phase 1 clinical trials.
The firm is looking for privately held companies with experienced management teams. The firm looks to take an active role following investing generally taking at least a board seat. The firm is willing to both lead rounds and co-invest as a member of a syndicate。
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
A biotechnology-focused equity hedge fund based in Western US is looking to invest in therapeutics space. The investment size can vary greatly and the fund is very flexible depending on each company’s needs. The fund is geographically agnostic and looks to invest globally.
The firm is highly interested in biotech therapeutics. The fund is extremely opportunistic in terms of subsectors and indications and will consider companies at all stages of development. The fund recently invested in a European-based company developing small molecule therapeutics for CNS diseases and a US-based company developing therapeutics for oncology.
The firm seeks a company with a strong and experienced management team or technical experts in the relevant technology. The fund will require either a board seat or observer status.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
A venture capital firm based in the Western United States is currently investing out of its 2nd million dollar fund. The firm makes primarily equity investments ranging from $50,000 to $5 million over the lifetime of the investment. The firm prefers to invest in companies located in the United States although they are also open to review internationally based opportunities and are currently working with a few companies in Israel. The firm plans to make approximately 2 new investments over the next 6-9 months.
The firm is looking for seed and venture stage medical and diagnostic device companies. In these areas the firm is most interested in single use devices capable of delivering a therapy, and in indications such as cancer, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, orthopedic problems, respiratory conditions, and gastrointestinal disorders. While this is the firm’s primary focus, they remain open minded to other types of devices and indications as well.
The firm looks for professionalism in a firms management teams and is willing to work with firms that do not yet have a complete management team in place. The firm does not always look to take a board seat into companies however the firm does look to add value by developing strategic corporate partnerships in Japan when appropriate.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com
BOSTON – April 9, 2015 – Johnson and Johnson Innovation, JLABS (JLABS) is collaborating with Life Science Nation’s RESI @ TMCx, June 8th, Houston conference. JLABS is a co-sponsor and will be hosting a Sunday evening cocktail reception on June 7th to kick off the RESI @ TMCx event on the 8th.
“The JLABS event will provide a great venue for scientist-entrepreneurs and investors to get some additional networking time,” said Dennis Ford, CEO, Life Science Nation.
Senior representatives from JLABS also will be participating in RESI’s panels and workshops as well as the RESI investor partnering forum.
“JLABS has a close relationship with the Texas Medical Center (TMC) and will be opening an incubator at the TMC Innovation Insitute, called JLABS @TMC, in early 2016. JLABS @TMC is dedicated to the early stage life science arena, so collaborating with Life Science Nation and TMCx for this event makes a lot of sense,” said Chelsea Hewitt, Director of Marketing for JLABS.
The Redefining Early Stage Investments conference also takes place in Boston in September and in San Francisco in January. Now with RESI @ TMCx on June 8th, fundraising CEOs have a venue to meet early stage investors that are a fit for their sector and stage every 4 months, providing a great ROI for cost conscious CEO’s.
About Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS
JLABS, part of Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, provides the tools and resources needed to help life science startups thrive. Residents have access to turnkey, state-of-the-art infrastructure as well as year-round commercialization curriculum and networking events, onsite team for operations and business services, all with no-strings attached. JLABS links regional entrepreneurs with the full breadth of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, including opportunities to discuss funding, access third-party services, attend educational events and meet with R&D experts from our medical device technology, consumer healthcare product and Janssen pharmaceutical teams. The new JLABS @Texas Medical Center (JLABS @TMC) incubator will be located within Texas Medical Center’s new Innovation Institute at the TMCx facility, located at 2450 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX. The 30,000-square foot JLABS facility will accommodate up to 50 life science startups. JLABS @TMC will also follow the same no-strings attached approach currently in operation at the California and Boston-based JLABS facilities.
In March, LSN Research spoke with the investment staff at 90 firms that directly invest in life science companies. As always, we reached out to a wide variety of investors; many were from the venture capital or private equity space, but we also gathered mandate information from investors of every type that LSN tracks. Figure 1 shows the range of investors we contacted in March.
Figure 1 | Source: LSN Investor Platform, Data as of March 31, 2015
These 90 conversations represent a truly global dialogue. In addition to speaking to investors in the U.S., Canada, and throughout Europe, LSN Research also spoke to investors from as far away as Korea and New Zealand. (See Figure 2).
Figure 2 | Source: LSN Investor Platform, Data as of March 31, 2015
As Figure 3 shows, we found that the largest sectors of focus for these investors were the diagnostics and medical technology sectors, with 65 investors interested in each of these fields. We also spoke to many investors looking for therapeutics opportunities, and also those with an interest in other life science opportunities, such as engineering and healthcare IT, biotechnology R&D services such as CROs, and other biotechnology fields, including industrial biotechnology and agricultural biotech.
Figure 3 | Source: LSN Investor Platform, Data as of March 31, 2015
LSN’s focus is on early stage opportunities, so we have concentrated on cultivating relationships with investors that have demonstrated interest in the preclinical and early clinical phases of development. However, many investors take an interest in companies at a range of stages. A large number of the therapeutics investors we spoke to in March were also looking at later stage opportunities, as Figure 4 shows.
Figure 4 | Source: LSN Investor Platform, Data as of March 31, 2015
We see a more even distribution in the medical technology and diagnostics fields, perhaps due to the shorter timelines involved in bringing a product to market. A slight preponderance of the investors we spoke with in March are interested in medtech and diagnostics products undergoing clinical trials, as Figure 5 demonstrates.
Figure 5 | Source: LSN Investor Platform, Data as of March 31, 2015
Over a third of the investors we contacted are interested in accessing life science opportunities all over the world. The rest have particular areas of focus, from a single city or region to one or more entire continents. The majority of these non-global investors have an interest in opportunities in the U.S., but we also spoke to investors who focus on Europe, Canada, Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania (see Figure 6).
Figure 6 | Source: LSN Investor Platform, Data as of March 31, 2015
LSN Research finds that there is continuing investor enthusiasm for direct life science opportunities, and also a great deal of nuance in the specific details regarding what investors are looking for. These reports show general trends among life science investors, but every investor is different and has their own unique approach to the field, whether it’s focusing on a certain inflection point or a specific area of medicine. No one opportunity could spark the interest of all 90 of these investors; therefore, it’s important to thoroughly vet each life science investor and assess whether they are a fit for your company before pitching your opportunity.
As cost concerns in healthcare rise and medical device technology advances, LSN has encountered a large number of investors who take an interest in the convergence of medical devices and software. Many investors are interested in the potential of this new wave of connected medical and diagnostic devices, which will collect and transmit biological data in order to monitor chronic conditions and warn of complications before they occur. The Internet of Medtech has the potential to change how healthcare is delivered, with data bridging the gap between providers and patients.
