The fund will seek to invest in at least 20 startups located in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
Swiss V.C. Versant Ventures closed a $560 million raise for its newest biotech spinout fund, Versant Venture Capital VIII, led by the same team as its previous three biotech funds. The fund will seek to invest in at least 20 startups located in the U.S., Canada and Europe. With additional closes of a $140 million booster fund and a $250 million later-stage opportunity fund, Versant now manages $4.2 billion in assets.
Versant is doubling down on the strategy from its previous early-stage biotech fund, Versant Venture Capital VII, which raised $600 million in 2018 with a similar remit. The fund has focused on companies developing a new generation of therapies in areas of unmet medical need.
As with Venture Capital VII, Versant will primarily look to build companies de novo through its Discovery Engines, about 60 in-house scientists in four Versant teams located in North America and Europe that work independently to validate academic findings, the basis for company formation. Internal spinouts currently account for more than 30% of its investments.
The approach has worked in the past: Black Diamond Therapeutics, the first company launched from Ridgeline, Versant’s European Discovery Engine in 2018, raised $201 million last year in an IPO to support clinical trials for its small molecules against allosteric mutant oncogenes.
Versant launched four companies from its Discovery Engines 2020. From its Ridgeline team, Versant spun out cytokine company Bright Peak Therapeutics with a $35 million Series A investment and T cell receptor company Matterhorn Biosciences with a $30 million Series A.
It also spun out protein degradation company Lycia Therapeutics with a $50 million Series A and was joined by GV for a $60 million Series A for structural immunology company Ventus Therapeutics from its North American teams.
Versant also led or co-led a €66 million ($79.3 million) Series A round for T cell company T-knife, a $45 million Series A round for radiopharmaceuticals company RayzeBio, and a $45 million Series A for genetic medicines company Graphite Bio in 2020, all founded externally.
Versant is exploring a range of new technologies through Venture Capital VIII, including cell and gene therapies, next-generation antibodies and proteins, and small molecules against hard-to-hit proteomic targets, said Brad Bolzon, chairman and managing director of Versant. “These innovations are at the heart of our investment model,” he added.
Versant’s $140 million booster fund, Versant Voyageurs II, will be used for additional Series A support in special, high-potential deals. The $250 million Versant Vantage II will back late-stage portfolio companies as they near an IPO.
