Investment group BEVC, focused on life sciences, is in the process of gathering a fund of $25 million dedicated to ventures tackling climate change, as revealed in a filing with the SEC.
As a newcomer, established last year in Berkeley, California, BEVC was started by three co-founders with a strong foundation in the life sciences sector. Its initial ventures include Radar Therapeutics and Insamo, focusing on life sciences. However, the recent fund indicates a pivot towards supporting startups in the climate technology space.
This strategic shift positions BEVC among a growing number of life sciences investors expanding their scope to encompass the well-being of the planet along with human health. This trend was illustrated by RA Capital, which brought onboard a team dedicated to planetary health last year, and Flagship Pioneering, a major biotech venture capital firm that secured $3.6 billion last month for investments in startups innovating in health, sustainability, and AI.
Explaining the rationale behind focusing on both human and planetary health, Kyle Teamey, the managing partner of RA Capital Planetary Health, remarked in December, “In an unhealthy environment, you just don’t have healthy people.”
The founding team of BEVC, each holding a PhD in life sciences, has a history of significant roles both as business operators and investors. Rowan Chapman, with a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology, has led innovation at Johnson & Johnson and directed healthcare investment at GE Ventures. Widya Mulyasasmita holds a doctorate in bioengineering, is a co-founder of OliLux Biosciences, and was a senior principal at B Capital Group before joining BEVC. Risa Stack, an immunology PhD, has co-founded Menlo Micro in the electronics field and has experience at RA Capital, GE Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins.
Moreover, the company is supported by advisers with substantial achievements in life sciences, such as Nobel laureates Jennifer Doudna and Carolyn Bertozzi, David Schaffer who is the executive director at QB3 – UC Berkeley’s biosciences institute, and Robert Tjian, the former president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Requests for comment from the firm were not immediately answered.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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