First Round is a seed-stage venture firm focused on building a vibrant community of technology entrepreneurs and companies, including Uber, Square, and Warby Parker. Through custom-built software, incredible in-person experiences, and a host of other unique services, First Round helps tiny companies get big while constantly reimagining the role of venture capital. It offers a growing number of services and products to help founders build companies from scratch. First Round has adopted the Diversity Term Sheet Rider.

First Round Capital

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

Village Global is an early stage venture capital firm backed by some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs.

Village Global

General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that provides early-stage and growth equity investments. The company provides ongoing momentum that accelerates ideas, careers, and companies toward standout success.

General Catalyst

The firm is a 25-year-old global investment firm focused on healthcare with approximately $5.8 billion in AUM, which we have invested in over 290 public and private companies worldwide. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in Asia.  Our team consists of 50 multi-disciplinary professionals, including, physicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, operating executives, and industry experts. The firm operates as a multi-fund investment platform, covering growth equity, private equity including buyout, venture capital, and public equity. Vivo invests broadly in healthcare across all fund strategies, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare services, with a focus on the largest healthcare markets.

Vivo Capital

BossaNova is the number one Brazilian Micro Venture Capital. We are the most active investor in the pre-seed stage in Latin America with more than 1200 investments in over 1000 Startups. We also invest in global companies, directly or through co-investment syndicates on AngelList.

Bossanova Investimentos

XYZ Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that supports startups build companies in the fintech and insurtech industries.

XYZ Venture Capital

Manta Ray Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund backing mission-driven founders that provides flexible and patient capital, leveraging time, resources, and networks resources and networks as far as possible to support its portfolio companies.

Manta Ray Ventures

CPMG is an American investment management company that is focused on the public equity markets of the U.S.   CPMG is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, United States, and currently operates as a subsidiary of the Cardinal Investment Company.

CPMG

Alumni Ventures Group provides high-quality, diversified venture portfolios to individual investors who previously haven't had access to VC. It helps accredited alums from top entrepreneurial schools invest together in the ventures of fellow alums. The firm backs companies with an alumni connection and an institutional lead investor with expertise in the space. AVG also offers focused funds that allow any accredited investor access to a venture portfolio, diversified by type, sector, stage, and geography. Beth Obermiller, Michael Madden, and Mike Collins co-founded the firm in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2013.

Alumni Ventures

Asahi Kasei Corporation provides solutions based in chemistry and materials science to a range of markets, including fibers, chemicals, consumer products, housing, construction, electronics, and health care primarily in Japan. Segments Chemicals The Chemicals Segment offers organic and inorganic industrial chemicals, synthetic resin, synthetic rubber, high-compound fertilizer, coating materials, latex, pharmaceutical and food additives, explosives, photopolymers and platemaking systems, separation and ion-exchange membranes, systems, and equipment. The company produces, processes, and sells chemicals and derivative products, such as ammonia, nitric acid, caustic soda, acrylonitrile, styrene monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, PMMA resin, high-compound fertilizers, and adipic acid; polymer products, such as Suntec polyethylene (PE), Stylac-AS (styrene-acrylonitrile), Stylac-ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene), synthetic rubber, Tenac polyacetal, Xyron modified polyphenylene ether (mPPE), and Leona nylon 66 polymer and filament); and specialty products, such as coating materials, latex, Ceolus microcrystalline cellulose, explosives, explosion-bonded metal clad, APR photosensitive resin and printing plate making systems, Microza UF and MF membranes and systems, Hipore microporous membrane, ion-exchange membranes and electrolysis systems, Saran Wrap cling film, Ziploc storage bags, and plastic films, sheets, and foams.

Asahi Kasei

Wormhole Capital is the investment arm of Vivek Garipalli’s family office that invests at any stage from seed to growth rounds. It backs deeply independent thinkers with audacious dreams and relentless determination.

Wormhole Capital

Ossium Health

Ossium builds a bone marrow bank to treat blood cancers, improve organ transplantation, and repair damage from radiation. The cells of the immune system are the human body’s natural defenders against disease. At Ossium, they are developing better methods of recovering, preserving, and deploying these critical cells to keep disease at bay.

Ossium Health is a bioengineering company that develops cell therapies for diseases of the blood and immune systems. The company uses stem cells derived from the bones of deceased organ donors, which are otherwise discarded as medical waste, to help develop therapeutics to treat hematological diseases and prevent organ transplant rejection. The company has one commercialized therapeutic; its bone matrix allograft for orthopedic trauma patients called Ossigraft.

Novel therapies to reboot cells and organs

Cell & Gene Therapy

World Changing Ideas 2024: Ossium Health's bone marrow bank will save lives

Ossium Health is a bioengineering company that develops cell therapies for diseases of the blood and immune systems. The company uses stem cells derived from the bones of deceased organ donors, which are otherwise discarded as medical waste, to help develop therapeutics to treat hematological diseases and prevent organ transplant rejection. The company has one commercialized therapeutic; its bone matrix allograft for orthopedic trauma patients called Ossigraft.As of May 2024, Ossium’s clinical pipeline included its organ transplant rejection solution and two solutions to treat hematological diseases. Its organ transplant rejection solution was in Phase I of clinical testing, while its solutions for hematological diseases, one for preservation of bone marrow from deceased donor patients to patients with leukemia and the other for treating graft vs. host disease, were in Phase II and preclinical stages, respectively. The company claimed its preservation study is a first-in-human study.Key customers and partnershipsOssium partnered with LifeGift, an organ procurement organization, in July 2021 to help provide Ossium with access to bone marrow donations.In January 2024, the company partnered with Extremity Medical, an orthopedic device company, to help distribute Ossium’s Ossigraft solution. Through the partnership, Extremity Medical began distributing Ossigraft through its network of surgeons, hospitals, and ambulatory surgery centers.

<div>
 
 Tenaya Therapeutics is a developer of therapeutics for heart disease. The company develops its therapeutics using precision medicine, gene therapy, and cellular regeneration. Tenaya produces therapeutics that also use proprietary in-vivo and in-vitro models. Additionally, the company has developed in-house adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid engineering capabilities and has screened over one billion variants from more than 30 diverse, proprietary AAV libraries. The company is publicly listed on the Nasdaq and trades under the ticker symbol TNYA.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 In October 2023 Tenaya Therapeutics (Tenaya) received FDA clearance for the company&rsquo;s investigational new drug application (TN-401) to initiate clinical testing. TN-401 is Tenaya&rsquo;s adeno-associated virus serotype 9-based investigational gene therapy drug candidate for the treatment of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy caused by mutations in the plakophilin-2 gene. 
 
 
 As of May 2024, the company&rsquo;s clinical pipeline included two candidates in Phase I clinical trials, a gene therapeutic for the treatment of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, and a small molecule inhibitor for the treatment of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Additionally, Tenaya had one gene therapy candidate and two genetic medicine candidates in preclinical testing phases, along with five genetic medicine candidates in the discovery stage. 
 
 
 
</div>

Tenaya Therapeutics

<div>
 
 Sarepta Therapeutics is a gene therapy provider for conditions such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy 
 (LGMD), and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease. The company&rsquo;s therapeutics incorporate technology related to gene therapy, RNA technologies, and gene editing. The company leverages a proprietary phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PMO) platform for the development of its RNA-based therapeutics. As of August 2023, the company had four FDA-approved treatments for DMD: ELEVIDYS, EXONDYS 51, VYONDYS 53, and AMONDYS 45. Sarepta Therapeutics is also listed on the Nasdaq, trading under the symbol SRPT.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 As of May 2024, the company had several RNA, gene, and gene editing therapeutics in various clinical stages. Sarepta had two RNA therapeutics, both for the treatment of DMD, one in clinical testing, and the other in pre-clinical testing. Additionally, the company had six gene therapeutics, one for the treatment of DMD (both in clinical testing), four for the treatment of LGMD (three in clinical testing, one in preclinical testing) and one for multiple targets (in preclinical testing). Also, Sarepta had two gene editing-based therapeutics in development for the treatment of DMD, both in preclinical testing phases. 
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 Over the years since its founding, Sarepta has partnered with several industry and academic partners. The list includes Dyno Therapeutics, Genethon, Genevant Sciences, Hansa Biopharma, Roche, Columbia University, Harvard University, Translational Laboratory of Murdoch University, University of Florida College of Medicine, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children&rsquo;s Hospital, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the University of Western Australia.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 In October 2021, Sarepta and healthcare giant Roche announced they would collaborate on carrying out a clinical study of Sarepta&rsquo;s therapeutic candidate SRP-9001 for the treatment of DMD.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Sarepta and pharmaceutical company Catalent announced that in January 2023, the companies were signing a commercial supply agreement. Through the agreement,&nbsp; Catalent would manufacture Sarepta&rsquo;s gene therapeutic for the treatment of DMD; delandistrogene moxeparvovec (SRP-9001).
 
 
 
</div>

Sarepta Therapeutics

<div>
 
 Mesoblast is a cell therapy manufacturer that provides therapeutics for oncology, cardiovascular, orthopedic, hematology, immunity, and inflammation-related conditions. The company is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol &ldquo;MSB.&rdquo; Mesoblast develops therapeutics using its proprietary mesenchymal lineage cell technology platform, which is used to produce cryopreserved, off-the-shelf, and cellular-based solutions. The company also incorporates 3D bioreactor technology and automation into its production process to produce higher yields.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 As of May 2024, the company had five candidates that are in various stages of clinical testing. Mesoblast&rsquo;s steroid-refractory candidate for Acute Graft Versus Host Disease is currently in late-stage Phase III clinical testing and is the closest candidate to commercialization. The company&rsquo;s drug candidates for acute respiratory distress syndrome, chronic low back pain, and chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction are also in Phase III clinical testing while its candidate for inflammatory bowel disease is in Phase II of clinical testing.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 The company has secured several agreements with international companies with regard to development and commercialization of Mesoblast&rsquo;s candidates, including Gr&uuml;nenthal GmBH, JCR Pharmaceuticals, Tasly Pharmaceutical Group, TiGenix NV, and the Lonza Group.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Additionally, in April 2020, Mesoblast partnered with The US NIH&rsquo;s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to conduct testing of its allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product candidate, &ldquo;remestemcel-L.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

Mesoblast

<div>
 
 Ocugen is a gene therapy manufacturer that develops vaccine, cell, and gene-based therapeutics for infectious, eye, and orthopedic diseases. Its cell therapy includes a three dimensional tissue-engineered cartilage disk through the growth of chondrocytes &ndash; the cells responsible for maintaining cartilage health. Its gene therapy solution consists of creating a copy of the patient&rsquo;s gene in order to replace mutated/damaged genes. The company is publicly listed on the Nasdaq, and trades under the symbol &lsquo;OCGN&rsquo;.&nbsp;
 
 
 As of May 2024, the company had five therapeutic solutions being clinically tested. The company was developing four gene therapies for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa, Leber congenital amaurosis, geographic atrophy, and orphan disease. Its treatment candidate for retinitis pigmentosa was in Phase III of clinical study, while its other gene therapies were in Phase I/II. 
 Ocugen was also developing a biological material, in the IND stage, for diabetic macular edema, diabetic retinopathy, and wet age-related macular degeneration. The company's cell therapy for the treatment of articular cartilage defects in the knee was in Phase III of clinical study. Finally, the company was also developing three vaccines, all in IND stages, for prevention of diseases caused by the flu, Covid-19, and a combination of the flu and Covid-19.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Ocugen partnered with biopharmaceutical manufacturer Jubilant HollisterStier of Spokane in June 2021 to manufacture its Covid-19 therapeutic COVAXIN. Through the partnership, Jubilant would be the potential commercial manufacturer of Ocugen&rsquo;s vaccine for the US and Canadian markets.
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

Ocugen

<div>
 
 MeiraGTx is a developer of gene therapies that aim to treat ocular diseases and problems, neurodegenerative disorders, and salivary gland and autoimmune disorders. MeriaGTx is also developing riboswitch-inducible expression programs for the treatment of inherited obesity and Wilson disease, along with producing small-molecule riboswitch inducers. The company is listed on the Nasdaq and trades under the symbol MGTX.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 As of May 2024, the company had four gene-based therapeutic candidates in Phase II of their clinical trials for the treatment of (1) xerostomia, Parkinson's Disease, and RPE65-Associated retinal dystrophy and (2) achromatopsia. The company also had one therapeutic being developed to treat Sjogren&rsquo;s Syndrome that was in Phase I/II of its clinical trials. Additionally, MeiraGTx had seven other therapeutics in discovery/preclinical stages. The company was also developing a therapeutic for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa in collaboration with Janssen, which was in Phase III of clinical trials. 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 MeiraGTx partnered with the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) in November 2022 to influence risk agendas, raise awareness, the standards of risk, and safety management across the industry.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Meira last raised funds in October 2023, when the company secured a strategic investment of USD 30 million from Sanofi. As part of the transaction, Sanofi was granted the right of first negotiation for MeiraGTx's gene regulation technology in certain targets.&nbsp;
 
 
 
</div>

MeiraGTx

Companies producing cells, genes, tissues, and biomaterials such as exosomes and extracellular matrix for drug developers and pharmaceutical companies developing regenerative medicine

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy involves genetically engineering T cells to target and kill cancer cells

Companies conducting R&D on therapies that modify or introduce new genes into the body to treat diseases

Includes therapies that use cells (other than CAR-T and stem cells) such as Adipose-Derived Regenerative Cells (ADRCs), cardiosphere-derived cells, and gamma delta T cells (GDT cells)

Stem cell therapy involves using stem cells usually extracted from the bone marrow and umbilical cord blood to repair a variety of diseases

Startups in the hub consider individual patient profiles, involving variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle

Genomics helps understand the genetic information stored in the DNA to develop targeted treatments

Ossium Health

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless