Main Sequence Ventures invests in ambitious founders creating the next set of global industries leveraging deep tech or frontier technologies. The firm is backed by the Australian National Science Agency, CSIRO, the Australian Federal Government, and private investors.  All Main Sequence investments leverage world-leading research from Australian public research organizations such as CSIRO, any of Australia's 41 universities or its multitude of other industry research agencies.

Main Sequence Ventures

Lionheart Ventures is a global, seed-stage venture capital firm focused on mitigating civilizational risk. We do this by supporting the wise development of transformative technologies. Our main areas of investment focus are transformative artificial intelligence and frontier mental health technologies. Leading academics estimate a 1-in-6 chance of human extinction by the year 2100, largely driven by risks from emerging technologies. And now, with the exponential growth of AI, predictions are getting worse. Our startups are part of the solution. We invest in exceptional, ethical founders who are developing transformative technologies that have the potential to impact humanity on a meaningful scale, while generating attractive returns for our LPs.

Lionheart Ventures

UNSW Founders supports students, staff, and alumni to build entrepreneurship skills, and found and grow real companies. As Australia's most comprehensive university entrepreneurship program, UNSW Founders comprises multiple programs and services that can take an idea from its earliest stage right through to a startup that's ready to go global.

UNSW Founders

Negev Capital is a psychedelic medical intervention investment fund with assets of USD$21+ million. We invest in drug discovery, with a focus on preclinical and/or Phase 1 stages of development. We aim to support those early stage companies in need of capital that promote the thoughtful, responsible, and therapeutic use of psychedelic interventions for neuropsychiatric disorders; as well as those who have excellent management and science teams, and robust IP.  Negev believes that psychedelic medications will be not only disruptive to the practice of psychiatry but hold the potential to reduce enormous amounts of human suffering, and is committed to helping the field mature, and further promote ways for these treatments to reach all of those in need.

Negev Capital

Empath Ventures is a venture capital firm that mainly invests in psychedelic medicine companies. The firm specializes in the fields of investment financial services, finance, and venture capital. It was founded in 2021 and headquartered in Los Angeles California.

Empath Ventures

CaraMed Capital is a deep-health tech venture capital fund.

CaraMed Capital

Possible Ventures backs ambitious teams building frontier technology to positively impact people and the planet. We invest in the early stages, actively supporting founders via our collective of global entrepreneurs. We're unabashed optimists when it comes to the power of technology to solve problems. And we invest our time and capital to help make innovation possible. We’re excited by technology ecosystems that are changing our future: the combination of AI, robotics and satellites that helps build new climate solutions and food systems; the convergence of blockchain and cryptocurrencies making decentralised finance possible; and new technologies like machine learning, genetic modification and synthetic biology that are enabling human health breakthroughs. We've harnessed the experience and networks of a global collective of entrepreneurs. Together, we discover and support great companies aligned with our mission. This armada of angels gives time and capital to 'pay it forward' to the next generation of founders in pursuit of a better world. We started this mission as Inventures. Our name has changed, but our collective approach and microfund strategy remain the same. We're redefining what's Possible.

Possible Ventures

Tenmile  invest quickly and confidently because it lacks the constraints that most venture capital funds.

Tenmile

Gaingels is a venture investment syndicate in service of the LGBT+ community and its allies, investing in companies with LGBT+ founders and C-suite leaders at all stages of growth, as well as in more established companies resolved on building more inclusive teams, with a global portfolio of 130+ companies and $70M in deployed investment capital to date.  The Gaingels network also actively supports its portfolio in identifying and recruiting diverse talent to their C-suite and board leadership teams and fosters a vibrant global community of industry leaders, investors, operators, and entrepreneurs who share a common goal for positive social change through business and successful investments.

Gaingels

M8 Ventures is a small, fast, pre-seed specialist venture fund focusing on the earliest stages of investment in the next generation of successful global tech companies from Australia and New Zealand. The firm was founded in 2018 and based in 	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

M8 Ventures

The future of mental wellness is being built today. Through its diversified investment fund, Palo Santo is positioned to increase the supply of clinically effective, affordable, and accessible mental health and addiction treatment solutions needed in today’s world. Supported by a rapidly growing body of evidence and strong FDA support, psychedelic-assisted treatments represent a paradigm shift in mental health care. Yet the emerging ecosystem of business opportunities is highly fragmented and, with a lack of institutional capital available, Palo Santo is targeting high growth opportunities within biotech & drug development, health care services, and digital health solutions led by passionate, experienced, and ethical management teams. These businesses are positioned to have a profound impact on treating conditions such as depression, PTSD, anxiety, OCD, drug and alcohol dependence, chronic pain, Alzheimer’s, and a range of inflammatory-related illnesses.

Palo Santo Fund

Radar Ventures operates as an venture capital firm.

Radar Ventures

What do Peter Thiel, Kevin O’Leary, Tim Ferris, Sam Harris, Michael Pollan, Sting, and Tony Robbins all have in common? They are either advocates for or directly investing in psychedelic medicine and research.  The past decade has ushered in a psychedelic renaissance, inspiring a massive push for research, decriminalization, and legalization of these powerful substances. There has been a radical shift in discussions of consciousness expansion, which has broken into the mainstream. With newfound, burgeoning support ranging from academia to medicine, government to business, there’s an extraordinary opportunity to tap into the commercial and social potential of this nascent space.  Mystic Ventures believes the world would be much better if more people experienced the healing power of psychedelics. Mystic cares about mental health and human conditions. The fund’s goal is to draw on my experience as an entrepreneur and investor, backing pre-seed and seed-stage startups creating high-quality psychedelic experiences and treatments. I am starting Mystic to support founders who realize the healing power of psychedelics to elevate humanity’s consciousness. I will harness my broad network and abundance of resources to ensure the success of these ventures. Given my reach throughout the investing world and social media, as well as a growing network within the psychedelic space, I am confident that we will have outstanding deal flow and access to any emerging opportunities. We will draw on a wide range of industry experts, from medical professionals to academics, to validate startup theses, but the focus will be on investing in world-class, dynamic founders.  Given how early this industry is, it’s difficult to pinpoint precisely how big the market opportunity is— but considering the large, ever-expanding applications of psychedelic medicines and therapies, the potential is nothing short of mind-boggling. The global market for drugs used in mental disorders was $70.1 billion in 2012. Just the antidepressant drug market was valued at $13.69b in 2015. More broadly, in 2019, mental health spending topped $225 Billion in the US alone. Two publicly traded psychedelic companies, both founded in the past five years, Compass Pathways and MindMed (which we were offered pre-IPO access to), have market capitalizations over $1 billion, and many more have nine-figure valuations. In contrast, the global legal marijuana market was valued at $17.7 billion in 2019. Thus, it’s hard to overstate how large and how quickly this space could grow. The priority is getting this fund to market as soon as possible, which is why we chose a Rolling Fund. Whenever possible, I will spin up SPVs for LPs that would like larger exposure to deals or when it's deemed appropriate to do follow-on investments.

Mystic Ventures

Psylo

Psylo is a drug development company that focuses on next-generation psychedelics. With psychedelic molecules as the starting point, our goal is to develop medicines that are widely available as improved treatments to currently available SSRI medications.

Based in Australia, Psylo is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the development of novel treatments for mental health conditions through the use of psychedelic-inspired therapeutics. Leveraging computational tools and synthetic chemistry, the company focuses on creating non-hallucinogenic, rapid-acting antidepressants derived from natural psychedelic compounds like psilocybin. The company aims to improve upon the pharmacology of these substances to develop more effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders that are accessible to a broader patient population​. As of April 2024, the company had four compounds in its development pipeline across the non-hallucinogenic, less hallucinogenic, and hallucinogenic spectrums.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Promising research and receding stigma are giving investors cannabis-boom flashbacks.

Psychedelic Medicine

Superseeder: psychedelic biotech Psylo plants $12 million in latest ‘Seed’ round

Based in Australia, Psylo is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the development of novel treatments for mental health conditions through the use of psychedelic-inspired therapeutics. Leveraging computational tools and synthetic chemistry, the company focuses on creating non-hallucinogenic, rapid-acting antidepressants derived from natural psychedelic compounds like psilocybin. The company aims to improve upon the pharmacology of these substances to develop more effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders that are accessible to a broader patient population​. As of April 2024, the company had four compounds in its development pipeline across the non-hallucinogenic, less hallucinogenic, and hallucinogenic spectrums.&nbsp;&nbsp;In June 2023, Psylo announced its plans to establish an office at the B+labs incubation space in Philadelphia, providing it access to more R&amp;D resources.Key customers and partnershipsPsylo's approach to biotechnology has led to notable collaborations, including a notable partnership with the University of New South Wales to establish a synthesis laboratory. The company has also collaborated with Csiro to evaluate Psylo’s novel compounds to induce neuroplasticity in vitro. In June 2023, Psylo signed a research deal with Daiichi Sankyo, a Japan-based pharmaceutical company, to advance the development of non-hallucinogenic psychiatric therapies. Further, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30896">June 2024</a>, partnered with the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre to develop treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders using advanced AI.Its other key partners include Ansto, Therapeutic Innovation Australia, NIDA, Chemical Computing Group, and CDD Vault.&nbsp;Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30021">June 2024</a>, Psylo raised USD 8 million in a seed funding round led by Tenmile. The funds were allocated towards advancing Psylo's PSYLO-100X, a non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2A agonist, which aims to treat depression and other mental health disorders.

<div>
 
 Canadian biotech firm Core One Labs maintains three primary business operations: 1) developing novel delivery systems for psychedelic medicines, 2) psilocybin manufacturing, and 3) medical clinics to provide psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. The company has developed proprietary technology with infused strips that dissolve immediately when placed in the patient&rsquo;s mouth to deliver molecules with a higher level of bioavailability. The company plans to advance this technology to incorporate psychedelic molecules, particularly psilocybin.&nbsp;
 
 
 Core One Labs also claims it has discovered a patentable method of producing high-quality psilocybin, which it may license to pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, the company has two psychedelic clinics in Vancouver that currently support clinical trials and maintain a database of more than 275,000 patients. The company acquired Vocan Biotechnologies and Akome Biotech in May 2021 for undisclosed amounts. Akome is developing a patent-pending psychedelic drug formulation for the treatment of Alzheimer&rsquo;s Disease.&nbsp;
 
 
 Core One Labs is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) and OTC markets.
 
 
</div>

Core One Labs

<div>
 
 Vancouver-based Lobe Sciences (formerly GreenStar Biosciences) is a biotechnology company developing psychedelic medicines (microdose applications) and medical devices for efficient drug delivery. The company&rsquo;s main focus is the treatment of mild traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is also conducting early studies on psilocybin combined with N-acetylcysteine (NAC), and MDMA combined with NAC as a treatment. Lobe is also developing a patent pending nasal mist transducer device for the delivery of medicines directly to the brain&rsquo;s olfactory bulb.&nbsp;
 
 
 In June 2020, Lobe acquired Eleusian Biosciences, a company focused on the development of psychedelic medicine which expanded its intellectual property portfolio with three US patent applications for psychedelic therapeutics. Lobe is also collaborating with the University of Miami&rsquo;s Miller School of Medicine to conduct preclinical studies. After its restructuring and name change, the company started trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) in November 2020.
 
 
 
</div>

Lobe Sciences

<div>
 
 Cybin is a psychedelic biotechnology company developing treatments for psychiatric and neurological conditions. Through its Serenity Life Science division, Cybin conducted Phase II of clinical trials on using psilocybin to treat major depressive disorder. Additionally, the company's Nature's Journey division focuses on creating non-psychedelic medicinal and nutraceutical mental health products.
 
 
 Cybin is actively building a patent portfolio, including chemically-synthesized compounds, delivery mechanisms, protocols, and new drug formulations. It has also filed an International Patent Application through the Patent Cooperation Treaty, potentially covering 153 countries.&nbsp;
 
 
 In July 2023, the company announced 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20076">
 EMBARKCT, 
 </a>
 a streamlined version of its EMBARK training program for pivotal studies of lead candidates, CYB003 for major depressive disorder and CYB004 for generalized anxiety disorder, respectively. In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27577">
 March 2024
 </a>
 , the company received a breakthrough designation from the FDA for CYB003, and expects to initiate Phase III clinical trials for the program by mid-2024.
 
 
 Cybin implements an M&amp;A strategy to grow in the psychedelic industry. It did a reverse takeover of Charmin in June 2020, raising CAD 45 million (USD 35.5 million) for clinical studies. It acquired Adelia Therapeutics in December 2020, adding novel treatments and patent applications. Also in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21335">
 August 2023 
 </a>
 it acquired 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/470858">
 Small Pharma 
 </a>
 in an all-share transaction to strengthen its psychedelic portfolio.&nbsp;
 
 
 Founded in 2019, Cybin is listed on the NEO exchange under the ticker symbol &ldquo;CYBN&rdquo; and was uplisted to the NYSE American Stock Exchange in July 2021 under the same symbol. For FY2023, the company reported a decrease in net loss by 29.7% YoY to CAD 47.5 million (USD 35 million).&nbsp;
 Further in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33849">
 September 2024
 </a>
 , it completed a 38-to-1 share consolidation of its common stock which reduced the number of outstanding common shares to ~20 million. 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;
 
 
 In July 2020, Cybin expanded its operations and research activities in the European region via research partnerships and transferred its intellectual property assets to its fully-owned Irish subsidiary (formed in May 2021). In July 2023, the company partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20455">
 Worldwide Clinical Trials
 </a>
 to develop new psychedelic-based treatment options for mental health conditions, including major depressive disorder. Further, in September 2023, the company partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22180">
 Fluence
 </a>
 to support Cybin's EMBARK facilitator training program.
 
</div>

Cybin

<div>
 
 Canadian cannabinoid-based therapeutics company BioNxt Solutions
 (formerly Xphyto Therapeutics) announced in November 2020 that it has expanded its drug development program to incorporate a number of psychedelic compounds. This includes substances such as psilocybin, mescaline, LSD, MDMA, and DMT. Xphyto&rsquo;s initial focus is on developing standardized drug formulations with efficient delivery mechanisms for therapeutic use.
 
</div>

BioNxt Solutions

<div>
 
 New York-based Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company developing psychedelic-inspired medicines for neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, addiction, and cognitive deficits. The company has three research programs in its pipeline: 1) Serotonergic Micro-Dose&ndash;a non psychedelic therapeutic treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and mood/anxiety disorders, 2) Arylcyclohexylamine&ndash;an improved molecule of ketamine for treatment-resistant depression and opiate use disorder, and 3) Novel Ibogaine Analogue&ndash;for the treatment of substance use disorders.&nbsp;
 
 
 Gilgamesh is one of the few psychedelic companies launched by the startup accelerator Y Combinator, and as such enjoys the accelerator&rsquo;s world-famous business expertise and network.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29382">
 May 2024
 </a>
 , the company partnered with AbbVie to leverage AbbVie's psychiatric expertise and Gilgamesh's research platform to create novel &quot;neuroplastogens.&quot; 
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27575">
 March 2024
 </a>
 , the company received a grant of&nbsp; USD 14 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to develop the GM-3009 compound. Prior to this, it raised USD 39 million in a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15359">
 Series B 
 </a>
 funding round led by Prime Movers Lab in December 2022. 
 
</div>

Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals

Companies conducting research on psychedelic compounds and developing novel therapeutics.

Companies operating digital platforms to deliver psychedelic therapies including psychedelic integration, virtual experiences, and mental coaching and tracking. AI drug discovery companies specializing in psychedelic therapeutics are also included.

Companies operating clinics and treatment centers to deliver psychedelic therapies.

Companies supplying psychedelic compounds through cultivation, chemical synthesis and biosynthesis for medical research and drug development.

Companies building a patent portfolio of novel analogs and derivatives of first-generation psychedelics and new drug delivery mechanisms. 

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 Psylo, a preclinical-stage biotechnology company, is teaming up with the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre to apply advanced AI in developing treatments for psychiatric and neurological conditions.
 The collaboration will use Dr. Nick Everett's machine-learning behavioral analysis technology. Everett is a research fellow at the University of Sydney.
 Using high-speed cameras and advanced data interpretation, this technology predicts behavior to evaluate the possible therapeutic effects of new medicines. Psylo plans to use this technology to upgrade its drug development process.
</div>

Psylo

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