Versant Ventures is nearing the finish line in its quest to raise a fresh $300 million fund to finance a new wave of biotech and med tech companies. The group, which is based in Menlo Park, CA, filed papers with the SEC indicating that it has now raised all but a few million dollars for Versant Ventures V, its first new fund since the last big $500 million fund was opened for business in 2008.
Versant was one of the pioneers in the area of seeding new biotechs and growing them under the watchful eye of a Big Pharma patron standing by with an option to buy. Just weeks ago its build-to-buy operation Inception launched a new company with Roche ($RHHBY) that will set out to generate some proof-of-concept data on repairing damaged nerves in multiple sclerosis patients. Inception is run by Amira co-founder Peppi Prasit, who recently returned to his old haunts in Montreal to open the group's third R&D site.
The venture group has a global appetite for new companies, centering on the U.S. and Switzerland, where partner and Roche veteran Guido Magni is based. One of its most recent investments involved a co-lead for a $37.5 million A round for Anokion, a spinoff from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland that is developing immune-tolerant drugs. The menu at Versant frequently tends to focus on cutting-edge technologies. That yen was displayed with Versant's involvement in Basel-based CRISPR Therapeutics, an international hybrid planning to break new ground in the increasingly popular field of gene editing.
A number of new funds have been raised over the past year. Just yesterday FierceBiotech reported on Essex Woodlands' progress on its next $750 million fundraising effort. Understanding that biotechs grow best where venture capital is on hand to fertilize the startups, New York recently hatched plans for its new $100 million fund. With the IPO window remaining open for roughly 18 months now, venture groups have been delivering more returns for their institutional investors. Happy investors in turn make for new venture funds--though many are coming in substantially smaller than their predecessors.
Versant's IPOs include Clovis Oncology ($CLVS) and Jazz Pharmaceuticals ($JAZZ). And among its M&A deals, Bristol-Myers Squibb's ($BMY) $475 million acquisition of Amira--with $350 million in upfront cash--stands out. The group has also stayed busy on the devices end. CardiAQ Valve Technologies raised a big $37 million round last year with its help. Inogen raised $20 million.
Versant's Fund V will likely follow the trail blazed by IV, with a focus on seed and early-stage investments. Last year it sank $187 million into 37 deals. The firm--in business now for 15 years--will soon have close to $2 billion under management with a portfolio of more than 100 companies.
- here's the Form D