To those who have been following the space, it’s no surprise that 2018 has been a record year for venture capital investing in healthcare. With $28.8 billion raised through the end of November (and big deals like the $400 million Series C raised by Relay Therapeutics last week) startups in the sector have raised more money this year than any year before in the last 10 years that VC funding database Pitchbook has tracked investments in the space.
“In spite of market volatility, the potential curative impact of many of the breakthroughs this year continues to be the driver of long-term value, and of continued venture investment. We are in a revolutionary time in biotech,” ARCH Venture Partners cofounder Bob Nelsen wrote in an email to Forbes.
So, we looked into which firms have been involved in this record year. Quantified not by dollars invested, but rather number of deals, these are the top 10 VC investors in the healthcare sector this year ranked by number of US-based deals, according to an analysis compiled by Pitchbook for Forbes. (Pitchbook is not able to calculate top investors based upon dollars invested.)
Here’s the list, and some notable deals that each participated in:
- Alexandria Venture Investments
Number of deals: 38
Highlights: Compass Therapeutics ($132 million Series A); Moderna Therapeutics ($500 million Series G)
Headquarters: California - New Enterprise Associates
Number of deals: 28
Highlights: Bright Health ($200 million Series C); Galera Therapeutics ($150 million Series C)
Headquarters: Maryland -
Keiretsu Forum
Number of deals: 27
Highlights: Attune Medical ($16 million Series C); Jana Care ($10 million Series A)
Headquarters: California -
OrbiMed
Number of deals: 24
Highlights: Alector ($133 million Series E); Constellation Pharmaceuticals ($100 million Series F)
Headquarters: New York -
ARCH Venture Partners
Number of deals: 22
Highlights: Gossamer Bio ($230 million Series B); Rubius Therapeutics ($100 million Series C)
Headquarters: Illinois -
SV Health Investors
Number of deals: 21
Highlights: Sutro Biopharma ($85 million Series E); Avrobio ($60 million Series B)
Headquarters: Massachusetts -
Connecticut Innovations
Number of deals: 20
Highlights: Arvinas ($56 million Series C); Rallybio ($37 million Series A)
Headquarters: Connecticut -
Keiretsu Capital
Number of deals: 20
Highlights: Joylux ($7 million Series A); Toma Bioscience ($6 million Series C)
Headquarters: Washington -
5AM Ventures
Number of deals: 19
Highlights: IDEAYA Biosciences ($94 million Series B); Impel Neuropharma ($68 million Series D)
Headquarters: California -
Plug And Play Tech Center
Number of deals: 19
Highlights: Owkin ($16 million Series A), Prellis Biologics ($1.8 million Series A1)
Headquarters: California
We’re excited to continue to invest in technologies that support early diagnostics, lower cost care, and data plays that may lead to new insights. Healthcare sector investing is important because at $3 trillion spend annually and close to 20% GDP, something needs to change,” wrote Plug and Play venture associates Kim Krueger and Alex Tran in an email to Forbes. One of Plug and Play’s early investments went public this year; blood-based diagnostics firm Guardant Health went public earlier this year, raising $238 million in its IPO.
What’s to come next year? “To the extent equity markets become more difficult, we would expect some companies might look for non-dilutive or non-equity type capital,” says OrbiMed general partner Carter Neild. “We’ve got a billion-dollar fund that does that, so it could be more of a credit-based or royalty-based financing. So that might accelerate if companies don’t like their stock price or equity market cap as much.”
