According to an SEC filing, BEVC, a life sciences investor, is raising a $25 million fund to support climate-related businesses
BEVC, established in Berkeley, California, last year, is a relatively new entity. Its initial two investments, Radar Therapeutics and Insamo, were also in the life sciences, and all three of its co-founders have a background in the field. However, the most recent filing indicates that its inaugural formal fund will concentrate on climate technology firms.
BEVC would become the most recent life sciences investor to expand its scope to encompass planetary health and human health due to the dual focus. Flagship Pioneering, one of the largest biotech VCs, raised $3.6 billion last month to invest in health, sustainability, and AI startups. Additionally, veteran life sciences investor RA Capital recruited a planetary health team last year.
What is the rationale for the dual focus? In December, Kyle Teamey, the managing partner of RA Capital Planetary Health, informed me that “healthy individuals are simply not present in an unhealthy environment.”
All of BEVC’s co-founders possess PhDs in life sciences and experience as administrators and investors. Rowan Chapman earned a PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry. She served as the innovation chief at Johnson & Johnson and led healthcare investing for GE Ventures.
Widya Mulyasasmita, who co-founded OliLux Biosciences and holds a PhD in bioengineering, was recently a senior principal at B Capital Group. Risa Stack has a PhD in immunology, has co-founded the electronics startup Menlo Micro, and has previously worked at Kleiner Perkins, GE Ventures, and RA Capital.
The firm’s advisers also possess a wealth of experience in the life sciences, such as Carolyn Bertozzi and Jennifer Doudna, both Nobel Prize winners; David Schaffer, executive director of UC Berkeley’s biosciences institute QB3; and Robert Tjian, former president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The organisation did not promptly address a request for comment.
