A firm based in Toronto that has offices worldwide manages a variety of different investment vehicles including private equity and multi-strategy funds. In the life sciences, the firm makes equity investments typically at Series A; initial investments range from $100,000-$1 million with follow on capital available of $1-3 million. The firm focuses on companies based in North America but has the capacity to invest worldwide.
In the life sciences, the firm focuses on medical devices, diagnostics and digital health companies. The firm prefers to invest in companies that are close to commercialization or which are already generating revenue (for example, device companies must ideally be ready to file for a CE Mark, 510k or Health Canada application).
The firm prefers to invest in experienced entrepreneurs who have deep knowledge of their sector. The firm only invests in companies developing products that have a clear path to market, and which serve a clear need; the firm prefers to invest in companies that are no more than a year from obtaining revenues. As the firm has offices globally, the firm is well placed to help portfolio companies make international distribution or license/royalty agreements. The firm invests 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 mandates@lifesciencenation.com.
The field of diagnostics can be a difficult space to navigate due to challenges in the regulatory and reimbursement processes that hinder successful commercialization. However, the implications of diagnostic technologies can be enormous; from precision genomics that enable optimum health management and personalized care to novel biomarkers that can successfully detect high mortality diseases in its earliest stages, diagnostics companies are developing some of the most highly disruptive technologies in the industry.
In this session, we invite 5 investors with strong expertise in this diverse space to speak about their unique approaches in working with early-stage companies. Investors will discuss the types of investment opportunities they seek and share valuable insights on building long lasting relationships, differentiating your technology from similar competitors, and more. We hope you will be able to join us for the RESI Toronto Conference in the MaRS Innovation Center on April 10th to meet these awesome panelists!
Moderated by Drew Taylor, Lead Medical Researcher, Epic Capital Management, the panel participants are:
Yiu-Lian Fong, Innovation Lead for Diagnostics, Johnson & Johnson (Medical Devices)
Kelly Holman, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Genesys Capital
Yvan Côté, General Manager of Dynacare Next & Orchid PRO-DNA, Dynacare
Amine Benmoussa, Principal (Healthcare), BDC Healthcare Fund
We see a lot of innovative point-of-care diagnostics out there, but what do these opportunities truly mean to diagnostic investors? How do diagnostic companies climb the reimbursement hurdle and how will the actionable information provided by these new diagnostics change healthcare delivery? Diagnostic investors discussed these questions at LSN’s Redefining Early Stage Investments Conference in San Francisco on January 9th.
Moderated by Akhil Saklecha, Partner of Artiman Ventures, we heard from:
Eric Hargarten, Investment Associate, Sandbox Industries
Wouter Meuleman, Director of Investments, Illumina Ventures
Last week, we summarized what we heard from the Big Pharma panel. Now what about the diagnostics side? Below are the main takeaway points.
Consider how the diagnostic would effectively disrupt the current healthcare delivery system to solve the problem. Investors are looking at the rest of the diagnostic system, how solutions are currently being delivered, and how your solution solves the workflow of delivery. Areas these investors noted as “uncapped and wide open” are concussions and head injuries, genomics, proteomics, and oncology.
“Point-of-Care” diagnostics is too crowded an area, especially when the company does not know at what point or for what care. There are many barriers to entry for point-of-care diagnostics to demonstrate usefulness in the healthcare system. How does the point-of-care diagnostic affect a clinical decision? Other oversaturated diagnostic areas are liquid biopsies, such as blood-based oncology tests, and NGS software tools.
Focus on payor-relations by continually publishing clinical evidence, especially if aiming for reimbursement. One of the large concerns for diagnostics is reimbursement. If the company can solve a significant problem for patients, but cannot demonstrate a business case for the key players in the healthcare system, adoption will be a huge issue. Particularly in the U.S. where the expectation is for third-party insurance companies to pay, it becomes imperative for diagnostic companies to perform trials and demonstrate clinical utility in practice. Investors suggest having a person on the team dedicated to publishing studies aimed at winning over payors. How many studies should you complete before getting reimbursement, you ask? “One more than you have,” quotes Eric Hargarten from Sandbox Industries.
Think more broadly than classic venture money—VCs are not your only source of capital, especially for diagnostics. Apply for non-dilutive grant money—SBIRs are a great way to progress early-stage development. Other equity, dilutive funding sources that are not exactly the classic healthcare investors also exist. These can be tech investors that are interested in the data-side of diagnostics, as well as corporate and strategic partners. Companies should also seek foundations and family offices that are perhaps more mission-driven around the problem at hand. Incubators are also a source to gain early proof-of-concept.
Final Advice for Entrepreneurs:
Have a high level of clarity. This demonstrates proprietary insight of the clinical problem and will get the investors’ attention to drive further conversation. Be sure the issue you are trying to solve is explained as clear as possible.
Consider the strategic alignment with the investor. Also consider the market size, particularly for payor or provider-backed venture funds.
Be prepared for technical conversations. Investors are excited by great science and great technology that solves problems others are not able to solve (think diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease before any symptoms appear!). Have your technical material on hand and be prepared to go deep. That said, be sure to also know your business model and plans for regulatory reimbursement.
Carefully pick your advisors, board of directors, and KOLs. Be sure they understand what you are doing and truly champion your company.
Think about what your company will look like in five years, and know what it takes to get there.
A recently formed venture capital firm is focusing on the big-data aspect of personalized diagnostics. The firm is seeking early-stage companies raising seed to Series B rounds. The firm has a $200M target fund and seeks to make 15 –20 new investments within the year. The firm seeks to make $2M – $4M initial investments per company, but will make smaller initial seed investments as well. The firm prefers to be actively involved in their portfolio companies, and therefore prefers companies based near the west coast, though is open to other U.S.-based companies.
The firm is focused on early-detection diagnostics, such as discovering cancer when it is still monogenetic versus heterogeneous and already invaded in other parts of the body or detecting Alzheimer’s 8-10 years before dementia symptoms are present. The firm is interested in point-of-care diagnostics (for influenza A/B/bacterial, etc.) that can diagnose specifically and efficiently. The firm is especially interested in technology with a big-data component, and involved in genomics and personalized medicine to provide the right treatment as early as possible. The firm seeks preclinical to clinical-stage technology, though will also look later-stage depending on the opportunity.
The firm requires a smart management team that is diverse in knowledge, and a company with good IP that may come from a leading institution. The firm will usually seek early-stage companies with less than half a dozen people.
If you are interested in more information about this investor and other investors tracked by LSN, please email mandates@lifesciencenation.com.
Fundraising for diagnostics companies, like most early stage healthcare technologies, is no easy task. A relative lack of a thriving M&A/IPO exit environment compared to other life science sectors along with high profile flops in the space has made some investors wary. However there exists a significant need for advancement in the field of diagnostics. From pharma companies wanting novel biomarkers to more accurately stratify patients for clinical trials, to the rise of personalized therapies via genomic testing, there’s a growing need for more accurate diagnostics and in many disease areas they do not currently exist.
In addition, many traditionally software or technology focused VCs and major strategics are looking to utilize their expertise to advance bioinformatic breakthroughs. While some these “new” healthcare investors have learned the hard way the difference between healthcare and consumer tech, as they continue to learn they will likely represent an increase of value added capital to the space.
In this session, we will hear from 5 Investors including VCs, large corporations and angels with experience and intent to invest in early stage diagnostics companies. The speakers will cover the types of investments they are looking to make and share insights they have learned working within the space. For any entrepreneur looking to raise capital for a diagnostic technology this is a must attend panel. Look below to see the speakers for yourself. We hope to see you in San Diego.
Diagnostics is a challenging landscape for fundraising and commercialization; however, the sector attracts interest and backing from a wide variety of stakeholders. There are many unmet needs in the sector, from finding new disease biomarkers to improving monitoring of progressive diseases.
The range of diagnostic investors attending RESI on MaRS next Tuesday provide testament to this varied landscape, with interest in novel diagnostic technologies coming from major pharma and device companies, diagnostic service providers, venture investors, and government organizations. RESI will bring the diagnostics world together for a panel discussion, moderated by Bob Williams, Vice President, Business Development and Innovation – Bracco Diagnostics, and featuring:
Ihor Boszko, Vice President, Business Development, Ontario Genomics
Lyon Wong, Co-Founder & General Partner, Spectrum 28
These investors will introduce their own specific angle on the diagnostics sector, and will cover what they look for in an investment opportunity in this sector. Panelists will also provide advice on how to make a new diagnostic catch their attention as an investable product. If you’d like to hear the advice of these experts at RESI, there’s still time to sign up.
The diagnostics space encompasses a very wide range of technologies targeting indications across the board, and is arguably the most difficult sector, under the life science umbrella, to successfully navigate. Not only do these entrepreneurs have to first identify the correct capital providers and strategic partners to make their technologies a commercial reality, like everyone else, but piquing the interests of those entities may be considerably more difficult. Oftentimes, clearly articulating the value proposition of your diagnostic product/service is a little trickier than that of a more traditional therapeutic or medical device, and the go-to-market strategy for these technologies will usually be more highly scrutinized.
Given the complex strategic landscape diagnostics often face, along with the importance of the having the correct strategy in place, the value of guidance and feedback from experienced diagnostic investors can’t be overstated. This diverse set of panelists, representing a variety of different funds and organizations, will give the audience firsthand perspectives to help position their companies for success.
Registering for the RESI Conference will give you the opportunity to listen to this panel live, connect with relevant investors and network with like-minded entrepreneurs.
The firm is focused on therapeutics companies and does not invest in medical devices, diagnostics, or digital health. The firm is open to considering assets of very early stages, even those as early as lead optimization phase. The firm considers various modalities, including antibodies, small molecules, and cell therapy. Currently, the firm is not interested in gene therapy. Indication-wise, the firm is most interested in oncology and autoimmune diseases but has recently looked at fibrotic diseases and certain rare diseases as well.
The firm is opportunistic across all subsectors of healthcare. Within MedTech, the firm is most interested in medical devices, artificial intelligence, robotics, and mobile health. The firm is seeking post-prototype innovations that are FDA cleared or are close to receiving clearance. Within therapeutics, the firm is interested in therapeutics for large disease markets such as oncology, neurology, and metabolic diseases. The firm is open to all modalities with a special interest in immunotherapy and cell therapy.
A strategic investment firm of a large global pharmaceutical makes investments ranging from $5 million to $30 million, acting either as a sole investor or within a syndicate. The firm is open to considering therapeutic opportunities globally, but only if the company is pursuing a market opportunity in the USA and is in dialogue with the US FDA.
The firm is currently looking for new investment opportunities in enterprise software, medical devices, and the healthcare IT space. The firm will invest in 510k devices and healthcare IT companies, and it is very opportunistic in terms of indications. In the past, the firm was active in medical device companies developing dental devices, endovascular innovation devices, and women’s health devices.
A venture capital firm founded in 2005 has multiple offices throughout Asia, New York, and San Diego. The firm has closed its fifth fund in 2017 and is currently raising a sixth fund, which the firm is targeting to be the largest fund to date. The firm continues to actively seek investment opportunities across a […]
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