Biotech venture capital is on the precipice of a generational shift. At least, that’s according to the crowd of younger firm founders edging their way in.
There’s long been a small batch of scientists and business leaders who invest in drug companies. For the first 15 years of the 21st century, you’d find only 400, maybe 450 VC firms regularly giving money to drug startups — biotech’s own version of The Four Hundred, with lab coats or branded polar fleece, rather than ballgowns. But that list more than doubled in recent years: There are nearly 1,000 active life science VCs now, according to data from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association.
Today, the high society of biotech VCs is made up of a hodgepodge of novices lured in by the Covid pandemic and Silicon Valley tech investors eager to codify human health. In that throng, dozens of new VC firms have been founded by a new generation of investors, emboldened by changes in the startup world and new trends, and ready to make their mark.
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