Vikram Iyer

Valley VCs used to be legendary (prior to the MBA infiltration) for funding bold visions that weren’t necessarily part of the echo chamber. They used to take bets before social proofing. Now, they behave like crypto investors who sell when Bitcoin is low and buy when it’s at $90k! If you’re seeking tremendous echo-chamber approval and social proof for your investments, you’re not as much of a “venture” as you used to be. And mostly you are late to the game. #valley #investments #startup

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May 6 2024 - 10 Notable Articles To Read Article: ‘Next wave of IPOs’ will arrive in summer, predicts biotech-focused VC partner Takeaway: The partner at Medicxi anticipates a surge in biotech initial public offerings (IPOs) during the summer. Source: Fierce Biotech Link: https://lnkd.in/d8XZHcKs Article: SVB Financial to sell VC business SVB Capital Takeaway: Pinegrove Capital Partners is set to purchase the venture capital enterprise, a newly formed entity supported by both Brookfield Asset Management and Sequoia Capital Heritage. Source: Reuters Link: https://lnkd.in/dDX5gP7F Article: Eye On AI: After Q4 Slowdown, AI-Related M&A Picked Back Up In Q1 Takeaway: In Q1 2024, there was an uptick in M&A exits, with 55 startups being acquired, marking an increase from Q4 2023. Source: Crunchbase Link: https://lnkd.in/dYbcfimk Article: Roark Capital completes $9.6bn Subway deal Takeaway: A private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyout investments within the franchise restaurant and food sectors has finalized the acquisition of Subway. Source: Private Equity Insights Link: https://lnkd.in/d88rwqYZ Article: Bolt closes €220M revolving credit facility: a step towards IPO Takeaway: The company aims to expedite the shift from individual car ownership to shared mobility, providing superior alternatives for various needs as part of its journey towards an IPO. Source: Tech.eu Link: https://lnkd.in/d_q7nCGK Article: The Stock Market Will Rise Nearly 10% More This Year, Money Managers Predict in Barron’s Latest Poll Takeaway: Numerous individuals anticipate that a stable economy will result in a more robust performance in the stock market. Source: Barron's Link: https://lnkd.in/d3tet-GY Article: Private equity firms step up plans to edge banks out of low-risk lending Takeaway: Apollo Global Management, Inc. issued a historic $40 billion in loans, reflecting a similar expansion seen among competitors such as KKR and Blackstone, as they raise long-term projections within this strategy. Source: Financial Times Link: https://lnkd.in/dv6AUJtb Article: Insight Partners’ Hinkle: M&A Is The Key To Unlocking Startup Liquidity This Year Takeaway: Many believe that the existing liquidity shortage stems from a dearth of exits in the startup market, leaving VCs with numerous illiquid assets. Source: Crunchbase Link: https://lnkd.in/dPvFPSMi Article: Rite Aid Closes a Quarter of Stores as It Navigates Bankruptcy Takeaway: At the time it filed for Chapter 11, the store was operational in 17 states and shuttered 520 locations within a span of seven months. Source: Bloomberg Link: https://lnkd.in/dhTUyf78 Article: Mubadala Capital plans $13.5bn biofuels investment in Brazil Takeaway: The fund also supported initiatives to establish a new stock exchange in Brazil and is augmenting its investments in the country. Source: Financial Times Link: https://lnkd.in/d4uUK6Pt #news #research #business

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Some great advice in this interview — featuring Jeffry Weinhuff of Visionary Ventures — relevant to all sub-sectors of #medtech. My favorite line is “investment capital is not tuition.” 😂 But the best advice stems from the insight that good exits via IPO or M&A processes with multiple buyers competing for your company require that most medtech companies must prove their value via strong commercial metrics. And doing that takes a lot of time, expertise and money. Plan, hire and raise capital accordingly. At Vensana Capital, our investment process centers on a deep analysis of every aspect of getting a breakthrough medtech innovation to market, no matter what stage of development a company is at today. We like entrepreneurs who believe their innovation can be highly impactful to patients. We love the ones who want to leave no doubt. https://lnkd.in/eDsUqgn6

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🧬 This week's Austin Bio & Health Roundup brings new capital to deploy, fresh data, major clinical milestones, & important strategic acquisitions. 🧬 💰 Funding Arsenal Bridge Ventures is raising $150M to build bio startups. Based in Austin and New York, their explicit aim is to fuel emerging science beyond “traditional” hubs. More fuel for the Austin Bio & Health flywheel. Huge congrats Jim Graham CFA. I am very excited to see what’s to come. 📊 Data New data from Peter Walker at Carta breaks down median dilution & pre-money valuation for seed-stage companies by sector in 2024. For Bio & Health, the answer is...It depends. Biotech saw median dilution at 25.5%, the most of any sector, while Healthtech ranked 12th with 19.8%. Their pre-money valuations were quite similar, both just under $12M, putting them on the lower end for this stage compared to other sectors. Got to pump those numbers up!! 🚀 Launches, Expansions, Milestones, and Wins Somite Therapeutics, the AI driven cell therapy company, has been granted FDA Orphan Drug and Rare Pediatric Disease Designations for their lead program in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. At this rate, I may need to a create Somite section in the roundup! Amazing Micha Y. Breakstone 🇮🇱🎗️! Neuralink received Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA for Blindsight. And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like! 🤝 M&A and Partnerships SubjectWell, a patient recruitment platform, is acquiring Trials24, a provider of patient recruitment solutions with a strong footprint in 13 European countries. Congrats Fred Martin on the next steps to building a truly global company. What’s Next?

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At Innosphere Ventures, we’ve assessed 50+ Life Sciences startups, and we’ve noticed a trend among founders: to successfully solicit funding from investors, they need to create balance in their go-to-market strategies to be investor ready. This isn’t a surprising finding, given the majority of our founders’ status as first-time founders and academic entrepreneurs. We have amazing university partners, so the companies that they refer to us are excellent at their product and the science, they often have the foundation of a really great team, and they are on their way to a strong intellectual property strategy. But they tend to underbake the less academic parts of their investor-ready story. That’s where our Incubator comes in: to help founders balance their commercial model and story so that they’re ready to approach potential investors with an airtight business plan. With the right development, regulatory, clinical, and financial plans in hand, they’ll be able to convincingly pitch to investors how they plan to get revenue and traction, how they plan to get investors’ money back, and how they’ll generate growth… all music to investors’ ears. Our Incubator takes talented, knowledgeable founders, identifies any investor-readiness needs in their skill sets, and fills them in with critical go-to-market knowledge. That way, when they approach investors, they’ll have the full suite of product, science, and GTM know-how to successfully win funding.

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Excited to have led the closing panel entitled "Bridging Science and Investment" in San Diego, CA. Joined by Dr. Sanjeev Thohan (Cogentis Therapeutics, Inc./Phoenix Molecular Designs) and Dr. Yuhua Ji (Grace Science, LLC ), we explored the intersection of scientific innovation and investment strategies. Key topics of this thought-provoking panel included: - Strategic investment approaches in the evolving biotech landscape - The critical role of venture capital in accelerating drug discovery - Innovative funding models for cutting-edge pharmaceutical research - The future of biotechnologies and the investment opportunities they present Thank you to the panelists for sharing their invaluable insights. Our discussion underscored the vital role of strategic investments in driving innovation and shaping the future of drug discovery and development. Together, we are paving the way for groundbreaking advancements in biotech. #biotechnology #MedicinalChemistry, #strategy #drugdevelopment Proventa International #Bio2024 BIO International Convention #DrugDiscovery #Investment #VentureCapital #Biotech #SanDiego American Association for Precision Medicine (AAPM) WISE World Investors & Entrepreneurs Society Agility Pharmaceuticals Precision BioPharma #ai #news

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many of the most impactful drugs for patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disease have brutal side effects, leaving patients with a tough choice between suffering intolerable toxic effects vs managing their disease without medication. Montara Therapeutics, Inc. is addressing this problem with a target-agnostic platform for two-drug combinations: an active, brain-penetrant drug combined with a peripheral blocker that counters toxic effects of the drug in the rest of the body. the concept isn't new - a similar strategy is employed by carbidopa/levodopa in Parkinson's, and Karuna's muscarinic agonist combo which was acquired by BMS for $14B last year. Montara is supercharging this strategy, building a more general approach that works across many different classes of targets and diseases. pumped to back Nicholas Hertz, Ph.D, Rishi Rakhit, Zachary Hill, Randall Chin, PhD Max Lebovitz, alongside SV Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), Two Bear Capital, and Dolby Family Ventures. feature in endpoints: https://lnkd.in/eQPK3pj3 press release: https://lnkd.in/ezUx-USV

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AI and Med Tech in Focus   AI System Developed to Identify Pathology in Tissues Engineers at Washington State University have developed an AI tool that uses images of human and animal tissue to detect abnormalities faster and more accurately than people. The AI algorithm was trained using images from past studies that involved kidney, testes, ovarian, prostate, breast and lymph node abnormalities. The new model detected disease in minutes—current processes take humans several hours and require specialized teams to check each other’s work. It was also found to be more accurate, sometimes detecting instances that humans had missed. The engineers designed the system to handle the processing load of the high-resolution gigapixel images by breaking them down into smaller tiles but still retaining the overall context of the tissue sample—akin to the zoom feature on a microscope or phone camera. Aside from getting diagnostic results more accurately and quickly, the new system also shows promise in epigenetics (the study of molecular processes that change gene behavior without changing underlying DNA). Epigenetic researchers can perform analyses and get results that used to take a year or more in just a couple of weeks. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

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After $400M of capital invested and 30 portfolio companies in health and pharma tech, we are excited to publish our SignalFire health and pharma tech sector thesis, 2024 edition and beyond! 👊 Here are 5 major trends that we're focused on 📈 If you are a founder building in any of these categories below, we'd love to hear from you! 1) Explosion of healthcare data creates both opportunities & risks in the GPT-4 era 2) PharmaTech is accelerating R&D, manufacturing & distribution to tackle inefficiencies 3) The labor shortage crisis and the need for AI to improve productivity 4) Aging population and the shift to hybrid, value-based care models in patients’ homes  5) Scaling access to lifesaving therapeutic breakthroughs: GLP-1s & CGTs Grateful to work closely with an incredible team focused on this sector including our legendary Eric Larsen, and partners in crime Sooah Cho, Tony Pezzullo, Sahir Raoof, Adele English 🙏 What gets me up every morning is our incredible portfolio, each of which making their own dent in our healthcare system for the better — Grow Therapy, Color, Ro, CodaMetrix, Health Gorilla, Verse, Wellth, PayZen, Recora, all.health, Bicycle Health, Form Health, Health Note, Osso VR, Praia Health, Freshpaint, Auxilius, Ovation, OrthoFX, Moxie and many others coming out of stealth soon 🚀 #healthtech #pharmatech #sectorthesis #innovation https://lnkd.in/gDE3nQqK

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How do you end the healthcare cost of poor nutrition? Realize the cost of bad food. On Sunday, SpaceX changed the cost of launch from $25,000 per kg, to $100 per kg. It allows Starlink to deliver 1Gbs globally for $100/month. Putting cable companies and even residential fiber on life support. Now do healthcare. If food is health, T2D diabetes goes away. if obesity goes from 40% of US population to 10%, 75% of revenue from comorbity disappears. While the food paradigm is not as clear as the SpaceX videos from Sunday, the impact is none the less similar. How does it happen? When good food costs less than bad. When does that happen? When consumers easily understand the healthcare cost of poor nutrition in their retail food purchases. When we hit that tipping point, the house of cards in insurance, healthcare, snap, Medicaid, and sick care collapse. Food, ingredients and agriculture vertically integrate to deliver affordable nutrition. Agriculture takes market share from healthcare. The house of card for commodity ag collapse. Slowly at first. Then all at once. #foodishealth

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🌟 This week in the longevity biotech field, Rubedo Life Sciences made headlines with two major announcements: securing $40M in Series A funding co-led by Khosla Ventures and Ahren Innovation Capital to advance senolytics into atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, and a strategic partnership with skincare giant Beiersdorf to develop science-based anti-aging skincare products. 🔬The focus on skin ageing—arguably the most visible indicator of ageing—makes sense as the "low hanging fruit" in the longevity biotech space. However, despite its clear effects, it is still challenging to test many claims. The problem is the vague definition of skin ageing, which includes a long list of ageing phenotypes (e.g. wrinkles, spots, pores, pigmentations, etc) with clear differences in sex, gender, and ethnicity. Chinese women typically develop wrinkles rapidly between the ages of 40 and 50, compared to a more linear development in French women from ages 20 to 60. The lack of reliable scales or testing models also complicate the issue. With FDA regulatory changes aimed at tightening cosmetic skin product testing, the industry could slowly close those gaps and achieve significant improvements in standards. 💡 Rubedo's journey is a great example of a longevity biotech company pioneering the path from bench to bed to market with a platform technology focuses on a clear hallmark of ageing, senescence, with clear leads and clinical applications. This is only because of the potential of integrating great science with practical and pragmatic anti-agieing applications. 👏 Thanks Marco Quarta, for sharing your time and insights during such a pivotal and exciting time. I am inspired by your humility, resourcefulness, and visionary leadership. And congratulations to Ali Siam, and Rubedo team and board, and investors. #LongevityBiotech #AntiAging #SeriesA #SkinCare #SkinDiseases https://lnkd.in/ey7q-K_V

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If you work in tech transfer this is a good read-in on how our diligence tech can assess and evaluate assets with minimal inputs. The best way to learn more is to see it live! Reach out to me directly to learn more!

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𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤❗ 5 MedTech Trends to Watch in 2025 (by Pitchbook report). The MedTech sector is poised for some interesting shifts in 2025. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect: 1/ Top-line vs Bottom-line divergence: ↳ Revenue growth will be moderate, but profits are expected to surge. ↳ EBITDA growth could hit 16% for medical devices and 13% for diagnostics. 2/ Cost-cutting pays off: ↳ After years of strategic pivots, big MedTech companies are starting to see results. ↳ Higher margins and free cash flow (FCF) are the reward for all that belt-tightening. 3/ Diagnostics in the fast lane: ↳ While most MedTech segments grow steadily, diagnostics firms like Natera and Exact Sciences will grow exponentially. 4/ M&A and IPO landscape unclear: ↳ The path for mergers and acquisitions is still shaky, but strong IPOs like Tempus AI reignite investor interest in new public companies. 5/ IPO comeback? ↳ Tempus AI’s stock soared over 25% post-IPO, signaling that investors might be warming up to MedTech again after the COVID-era deSPAC freeze. 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for MedTech, with strong profit growth and renewed investor interest on the horizon. Keep an eye on high-growth diagnostics and potential IPO opportunities as the sector continues to evolve. -------------------------- ♻️ Repost and follow Leon Eisen, PhD for daily fundraising, entrepreneurship and VC insights.    Ring the 🔔 on my profile.

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At Two Bear Capital our definition of value-add, lead, early-stage investing is to form a true partnership with the founders we back. We believe that only a small fraction of our return potential comes from us “picking right” when we make our first investment into a company – the vast majority comes from how effectively we can actively help our brilliant founders over the ensuing 3-7 years in achieving the passionate, ambitious, and positive-impact goals that drive them.

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Rock Health has unveiled insights from a recent survey focusing on U.S. adults managing their weight. The industry has witnessed substantial advancements in the last 5 years, with the emergence of GLP-1's new opportunities have surfaced for brands and companies to offer enhanced support services and products to consumers. What is an innovative product or service you have seen that is providing value to consumers on their weight management journey? #Healthcare #WeightManagement #Healthandwellness

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Agree with most of this. There are also different types of #VC. Early stage VC do invest in a founding team. Later stage may replace the team, as founders may own only single digits and be in the minority. Late stage VC will act more like #PE. In #business, there is accountability and you can be replaced by the board, even if it is “your” company that you founded. It happened to Steve Jobs. What makes you think it can’t happen to you? Investors care about #ROI. Keeping your job requires delivering results.

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Discover 10 big pharma and biotech companies that have spun out their own venture capital arms to invest in startups in the industry. #venturecapital #veteranventures

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Every healthcare investor has heard this: “Regenerative medicine is the future of healthcare.” But when you consider investing, do this: Replace “future” with → “immediate opportunity” ❌ “I’ll invest in regenerative medicine because it’s the future.” ✅ “I’ll invest in regenerative medicine because it’s a growing opportunity right now.” Why? Everyone knows regenerative medicine holds potential. But “future” can feel distant and uncertain. How you frame it could make investors hesitant to act now. 👀 But on the flip side… Everyone values immediate opportunities. Why? “Immediate opportunity” signals growth and innovation happening today. It builds confidence as investors see tangible advancements and returns. Use this approach to shift your perspective. Small but powerful change. But… The most important thing you need to do next? You need to focus on the transformative impact: Most investors know regenerative medicine is revolutionary. But what they really need to focus on is its current breakthroughs. → Stem cell therapies are already changing lives. → Tissue engineering is advancing at a rapid pace. Why? Because that’s where real market leadership is built. P.S. Check out my last post for more insights. 📌 TLDR; Regenerative medicine is one of the most promising fields in healthcare. But many investors see it as a long-term bet. Why? Because they’re only thinking about the distant future. Which means they might miss out on early growth. Which means they could overlook significant returns today. Which means they might not fully capitalize on this booming sector. And that’s why seeing it as an immediate opportunity is key. It’s different from just “believing in the future.” And it needs to be your focus right now. So make it your priority ✌️ #RegenerativeMedicine #HealthcareInvestment #Biotech #StemCells #TissueEngineering #Innovation

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New buzzword out of the Valley is "𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞" via Airbnb founder Brian Chesky's YC talk. But let me define it in a way nobody else has. Written 30 years ago, in the book Barbarians to Bureaucrats, two key leadership archetypes of corporate lifecycle management are described and when combined give you "Founder Mode". The two archetypes are—the Prophet and the Barbarian The Prophet represents the visionary, the founder who crafts a bold, disruptive idea that challenges the status quo. Prophets are creators, driven by ideas and the pursuit of innovation. In Founder Mode, this is the initial phase, where founders conceive breakthrough concepts that propel their startups forward. But vision alone isn’t enough to grow a company, let alone build it into a billion dollar unicorn. The next state is the Barbarian—the aggressive executor of the Prophet’s ideas. The Barbarian doesn’t dwell on analysis; they act decisively, cutting through the complexities and barriers to rapidly expand the company. In medtech, companies like Intuitive Surgical (market cape $171.8B) were built by Barbarians. It was a "gladiator school" of execute or be executed. In Founder Mode, this is where the founder’s role evolves to include an intense focus on execution, rallying the team to achieve rapid growth through sheer determination. In Elon Musk's biography this was often described as "Demon Mode" where he drove teams to accomplish the unimaginable. These are not fun or pleasant times. But that's the price you pay when challenging the status quo (and changing it). Paul Graham’s description of Founder Mode closely mirrors the fusion of these two archetypes. Founders, much like Prophets, are driven by a transformative vision but must also channel their inner Barbarian to execute and push the company to the next stage. Unlike traditional managers, founders thrive in ambiguity, navigating the complexities of growth by balancing creative thinking with decisive action. This duality—being both the visionary and the conqueror—defines the unique role of the founder in scaling a startup. And that is Founder Mode. If you enjoyed this, repost to share with others ♻️ and follow me Omar M. Khateeb for more in future #foundermode #startups #entrepreneurship #medtech #medicaldevices #medicine

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