COVID-19 has disrupted the world. No one expected that a virus contagion would engulf the modern era and bring the global economy to a standstill. There is no country which has been unaffected by the virus. This has led to biopreneurs, scientists, pharma/biotech VCs and government which are the crucial elements of life sciences ecosystem working on different approaches to develop the solution through a new drug or vaccine. These efforts will take their own time but it does open up the question about future preparedness for outbreaks like these. Do we have enough innovation which can prepare us for such events in future?
VC firm ARCH Venture Partners has recently raised $1.46 billion fund to finance new technology development in Biotech. It is interesting to see that their portfolio companies focusing on infectious diseases are working on COVID-19 therapeutics. However, VC investment activity is expected to decline for the remainder of the year due to the pandemic. In a survey by 500 startups (Early stage venture funds) 68% of the angel investors and VCs echoed the same sentiment. The trend will lead to cash conservation efforts among the funded startups. Going forward, focus will be on reducing operating costs and employing the best technology innovation to provide the best patient outcome.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is one area where a lot of innovation has come to the fore. This includes the use of 3D bio-printing for masks, ventilators, tele-health and wearables for remote patient monitoring and symptom tracking along with innovative test kits and medical apps to self-diagnose corona virus symptoms. Some of the programs where startups can apply for funding include Antler, Plug and Play COVID-19 accelerator, Black & Veatch COVID-19 Response Accelerator, The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Creative Destruction Lab, StartX Med COVID-19 Task Force, German Accelerator, Finnova, Matter Health to name a few.
Would you like to know the interesting startups working on COVID-19 /other infectious diseases and the investment activity of VC firms in your country for COVID-19 and other areas? Do you want to hire the right C-level executive for your portfolio company? Do you think a COVID-19 startup could be of strategic value to your existing pipeline?
You can explore all this data and get answers by using our product BioHubble. Our product will also show you competitor activity by location.
Sign up for early access!