About the Sponsors

Sofinnova Ventures

Founded in 1974, Sofinnova Ventures is a San Francisco Bay-Area based, internationally investing venture capital firm with over $1 billion under management. With a specialization in corporate spin-outs, we finance seed and early-stage companies developing pharmaceuticals and specialty pharmaceuticals. Our mission is to create value by providing entrepreneurs with the resources, experience and networks necessary to turn their ideas into profitable businesses. Sofinnova Ventures has offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, and San Diego, California, as well as Tokyo, Japan.

Sofinnova Partners

Sofinnova Partners is an independent venture capital firm based in Paris, France. For over 35 years, the firm has backed nearly 500 companies at different stages of development – pure creations, spin-offs, as well as turnaround situations – and worked alongside Europe’s key entrepreneurs in the technology, life sciences and cleantech sectors. With €1.1 billion of funds under management, Sofinnova Partners’ experienced team and hands-on approach in building portfolio companies through to exit have created market leaders, from landmark historical investments including Genentech, Actelion and Vistaprint to more recent successes such as CoreValve, Novexel, Fovea and Sensitive Object. With a global mindset, the firm has a sister organization in San Francisco, California.

CMEA Capital

CMEA Capital is a venture capital firm with a clear focus on life sciences, high technology, and energy and materials investments. We believe that the most successful venture backed companies are those that are science based, with experienced teams that have a vision. As a result, CMEA typically invests in companies that have cutting edge and highly differentiated technology at their core and founding teams of the highest caliber still in place. These are companies that have the potential to transform their industries. CMEA Capital was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. We invest in both early and late stage science-focused ventures, and leverage a strong network of corporate, investment, and entrepreneurial relationships on behalf of portfolio companies. Our partners and associates have extensive science, engineering, and operational backgrounds, providing us the confidence to look beyond today's technology. We apply our focus on science and teams to our collaborations with entrepreneurs and venture investment partners who are changing the world, one great company at a time.

Fidelity Biosciences

We are a division of Fidelity Investments, one of the world's leading providers of financial services. For more than 30 years, Fidelity Investments has been a significant presence in the venture capital and private equity industry, investing the firm's own capital since 1969. This provides us with the flexibility and capabilities of traditional venture capital firms while eliminating the additional pressures of fundraising. The result is a clear focus on building long-term value for Fidelity, our management partners, and co-investors.

We are engaged investors and board members, seeking to add value by providing strategic guidance and assistance to management throughout the process of building successful healthcare businesses. We possess the energy and entrepreneurial spirit of a start-up enterprise, while bringing to bear the considerable strengths and resources of Fidelity Investments.

FinTech Global Capital

FinTech Global Capital (FGC) is a Tokyo based venture capital firm founded in 2006 by a team of accomplished investment professionals with extensive industry background. FGC is dedicated to investing in technology companies both in life sciences and information technology with strong Asian angle. The FGC team has established deep relationships with Asian pharmaceutical and technology companies allowing them to identify unique technology spin-out opportunities. FGC augments its core expertise of investing in spin-outs with the diverse expertise of its team in finance, marketing, business development and entrepreneurial management.

Stifel Nicolaus Weisel

Stifel Nicolaus Weisel is an investment bank focused principally on the growth sectors of the economy. The firm provides investment banking, brokerage, equity research and asset management services. In November 2001, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel and the Nomura Group established a business and capital alliance, strengthening the firm’s scope of services for cross-border transactions. Recently, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel and Nomura acted as joint advisors to Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. in its acquisition of Sepracor Inc. for approximately $2.6 billion. Stifel Nicolaus Weisel is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Baltimore, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, New York, Toronto, London and Zurich.

Mitsui Ventures

Mitsui Ventures is a leading international venture capital firm with over $350 million under management, and offices in Palo Alto, New York, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai. The life science team has been investing in seed and early stage companies in the US and Japan with a special focus on spin-out or carve-out opportunities from the established institutions in Japan, with further developments taking place in the US or Europe. The current portfolio includes 15 life science companies, and many of them are based on the intellectual properties assigned or licensed by Japanese institutions.

BIO

BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.