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According to many pundits at conferences and across the internet, venture capital firms in the life science space have been shifting to later-stage investments. Despite significant activity among the other categories of life science investors, industry chatter still seems to be caught up with venture activity. However, when you take into consideration the full spectrum of investors that LSN tracks, the majority of investor interest is focused on companies with assets that are pre-clinical or in Phase I of clinical trials. But wait, there's more! In this article we'll be taking a look at data from the LSN Investor Database to highlight the case...
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 We're in "stealth mode" is one of the most common buzz phrases LSN hears among emerging scientist-entrepreneurs. This is often the cited justification for a lack of Web presence, no formalized materials, and an unwillingness to build a dialogue with investors. However, as noted in my article from last week, stealth mode ranks among the top 10 fundraising misconceptions. Often, protection of ideas is the primary reason scientist-entrepreneurs give for being in stealth mode. As LSN's CEO, Dennis Ford, likes to say, "Ideas are more like mushroom spores than lightning strikes: they spread organically and often pop up in several places at the same time. Execution is what determines your success."... |
By Michael Quigley, Research Manager, LSN
I am always excited when I come across unusual life science investment models in my investor outreach. Recently, I learned about a fund who's primary investor, a philanthropic foundation, is providing the other investors in the fund with a "partial loss protection guarantee." Under the guarantee, a first loss of up to 20% of invested capital is fully covered and 50% of any subsequent losses is also covered. This fund structure makes the risk/return profile for the investment much more attractive to investors and in theory will draw more total capital than in a traditional loss-sharing investment model. Basically, in an effort to get more investors to provide capital towards a specific indication, the foundation is voluntarily taking a bigger slice of the potential down-side... READ MORE |
Life Science Investor Mandates
