NeoSci Ventures (NSV), a venture builder and investor with offices in Singapore, Taiwan and the United States, has raised S$70 million ($53 million) for its inaugural institutional venture fund.
In a statement on Tuesday, NSV said the raise comes even as new fund launches have become scarce among emerging venture managers investing across the United States and Asia.
NSV is led by founding managing partner Daphne Teo and founding chief scientist Timothy Lu, and is supported by venture partners and senior advisers. The team has spent 15 years investing in and building companies, helping them raise billions of dollars and achieve 10 public listings and acquisition exits. The team also founded NSG BioLabs, a co-working laboratory platform, also one of the largest in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
The firm cites two examples from its track record. Enleofen Bio’s platform and products were acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim in a deal could reach more than $1 billion per product. Tango Therapeutics, a precision oncology company, is listed on the Nasdaq and valued at more than $3 billion.
The fund’s limited partners include sovereign and government-backed investment funds, listed companies, family offices and successful entrepreneurs. Notable ones include Taiwan’s National Development Fund; EDBI, an arm of SG Growth Capital; Catcher Technology; and Crescendas Group.
Teo said investors share the view that biotechnology offers strong opportunities even as capital has become more selective, amid a downturn in venture fundraising.
The fund will invest globally, drawing on NSV’s networks in the United States and Asia. It will look for therapeutics, including drug candidates from Asia, as pharmaceutical companies seek to refill their pipelines.
NSV will also target technologies at the intersection of biology, artificial intelligence (AI), and data and scientific tools. Lu said the science behind new therapies is advancing faster and is more geographically distributed than before.
NSV can identify scientific opportunities, builds companies around them, and gives hands-on support from the start, often taking founder, board, or executive roles in the early years. The company highlighted NSG BioLabs has run joint programs with major pharmaceutical companies for five consecutive years and has introduced more than 50 biotech companies to industry partners.