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Correlation Ventures is a venture capital firm that founded in 2010 and is based in San Diego, California with an additional office in Palo Alto, California. The firm currently has approximately $165 million in total assets under management. The firm typically makes investments ranging from $0.25 million to $5 million over the life of the company, and the first investment will be not larger than $2.5 million. The firm’s preferred capital structure is convertible preferred equity or convertible loan. Correlation Ventures will consider invest in any industry segment at any stage, but there must be at least one other venture capital firm making their first investment in the company in this round. The firm only invests in US-based companies. 

Correlation is extremely opportunistic when it comes to investments in the life sciences space; with that being said the firm's specified sectors and sub sectors of interest may or may not be an area in which Correlation Ventures is currently looking to allocate capital to. The firm has made a number of investments in companies in the life sciences space, and has mainly invested in companies in the biotech therapeutics and diagnostics space. The firm's current portfolio includes biotech therapeutics and diagnostics firms developing products targeting endocrine, metabolic, and nutritional diseases, musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, neoplasms, cancer, and oncology, genitourinary system, and infectious and parasitic diseases.

Crestone, Inc. is an early stage drug discovery and development company focused on developing novel treatments for serious bacterial infections.  The company currently has two main programs that address areas of significant and growing unmet medical need, both with novel mechanism of action agents.

1.         Novel treatment for Clostridium difficile infections.  CRS3123 is currently in clinical development for the treatment of C. difficile infection (CDI), and is nearing completion of Phase 1.  CDI occurs when toxin-producing bacteria colonize the gastrointestinal tract.  The infection spreads rapidly via spores which contaminate hospitals and nursing homes, and recurrence is a major clinical issue.  Due to the emergence of hyper-virulent drug resistant strains, mortality from CDI has increased over 700% since 1999.  In preclinical studies, CRS3123 shows much lower recurrence compared to vancomycin, a key attribute for improved therapy of CDI.  We seek funding for Phase 2 clinical studies to demonstrate clinical proof-of-concept.

2.         Novel oral agents for Gram-positive infections.  We are developing a novel class of DNA replication inhibitors, currently in advanced preclinical research.  These compounds selectively inhibit an essential component of the replicative DNA polymerase complex and are potent, orally available, and effective against all clinically-relevant Gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) and Bacillus anthracis (anthrax).  We anticipate development of a drug similar to Zyvox in spectrum, but with key advantages such as rapid bacterial killing and improved safety.  This grant-supported program is expected to produce a clinical candidate in 2015.   

Crestone will develop these programs through key value inflection points in early clinical development, and then share the risk and expense of late-stage trials with a partner.  We have a talented core team in place, and have a plan for strategic hiring to ensure that we can accomplish critical milestones.  We have identified potential candidates to fill a number of key positions, while outsourcing activities that benefit from economies of scale/expertise, including large-scale chemical synthesis, animal testing, clinical trial execution and regulatory affairs.  We have demonstrated the ability to leverage non-dilutive financing to meet critical early milestones, maintaining a semi-virtual structure and low burn rate. 

We are a Hong Kong-based venture fund management company focusing on mid- to long-term advanced technology investments at early stage. Through our partnership with the top analytical companies utilizing machine learning and large panel of experts, we can construct complex decision trees showing risk and return at every stage of company evolution. We routinely invest in both private and public companies specializing in biotechnology, drug discovery, personalized medicine, Big Data analysis, industrial expert systems and artificial intelligence. 

Deton is developing a novel non-invasive simple-to-use sample collection device for tuberculosis (TB) patients who are unable to provide a sample.

Proper diagnosis is essential to effectively treat the more than 9million new cases of TB every year. Typically, a sputum sample is collected to run the diagnostic test. However, in 22% of adults and in all children patients, sputum is impossible to collect. These patients have to rely on inadequate alternative collection methods that are invasive, high-cost, and resource-intensive. With our device, patients can now provide a sample even in low-resource setting and find out their TB status. Deton will enable 26M samples to be tested every year.

After promising clinical data, Deton is now raising $1.6M to build an ISO 13485 disposable product and to obtain pivotal clinical validation. Discussions with multiple potential diagnostic partners and first feedback from experts at World Health Organization show significant interest in adopting the device once effective validation has been completed. 

Diamond BioFund is an evergreen fund that was established in 2013 and is based in Taipei City, Taiwan. The fund is operating from a committed capital of USD 300 million. The fund makes equity investments in early- to late-stage private businesses. Typical allocations range from USD 1.5 million to north of USD 10 million. The fund likes to lead investments in Taiwan-based businesses and co-invest in businesses overseas. The fund is currently seeking new opportunities in Taiwan, Greater China, Southeast Asia, US, Canada, and EU.

Diamond BioFund takes a generalist approach when considering life science opportunities, including therapeutics (small molecule and biologics), medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare services, and nutraceuticals. The fund is seeking cutting edge, innovative, and platform technology. In therapeutics, the fund considers all stages from preclinical through pre-IPO. In medical devices, the fund prefers later stage projects with proof of concept. The fund is open to all disease indications.

Easton Capital Investment Group is a venture capital firm based in New York. Easton Capital invests broadly in the life science sector, and considers investment opportunities globally. The firm is likely to make 4-6 allocations in the next 6 months. Allocations typically vary from $250,000 to $5 million, in the form of equity or convertible debt. Allocations are typically made at the venture stage of development, but may be made in seed rounds if a company already has proof of their product's efficacy.

Enso Ventures is a Venture Capital firm that was founded in 2010 and based in London with an additional office in New York. The firm is looking to provide equity capital to high growth companies in the life science space. The firm is currently interested in companies located in Europe, Russia and the US and is looking to make approximately 2-3 investments over the next 6-9 months.

Excel Venture Management is a venture capital firm that was founded in 2008 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm has managed one fund with committed capital of $125 million, and the firm is currently raising the second fund. Excel Venture Management seeks to make equity investments into life science companies from early to late stages. The typical investment size ranges from $3 million to $ 5million. The firm plans to invest in 4-5 companies over the next 6-9 months and prefers to invest in companies based in US.