Homepage / Technology / Silicon Valley's biggest start-up factory is making a bet on biotech, but it's not an obvious fit
Les Gambling establishments en Ligne en France 2024 200% Reward + 300 Free Rotates LevelUp Internet casino Melbourne En İyi ve Güvenilir Casino Siteleri Canlı Casino Siteleri 2023 Listesi En İyi ve Güvenilir Casino Siteleri Canlı Casino Siteleri 2023 Listesi Le meilleur casino en ligne franзais Extra Casino avec le dйpфt minimal le in addition bas Yeni Casino Siteleri ᐈ Çevrimiçi Kumarhaneler Mart 2024 Les gambling establishments en ligne proposent une grande variйtй de jeux de internet casino gratuits. Türkiye’deki Resmi Web Sitesi Google Play, Türkiye’de kumar oyunlarına izin verecek Her Gün Tatil Olsa ORDU’DA PAZARTESİ GÜNÜ FINDIK FİYATI NASIL? كازينو اون لاين الكازينوهات الممتازة على الإنترنت ألعاب الكازينو المباشرة مينا كازينو العر Google Play, Türkiye’de kumar oyunlarına izin verecek Domain Sorgulama & Domain Fýrsatlarý Canlı Casino Siteleri: 2024 Güvenilir Siteler Seçilmiştir Golden Easter Slot İncelemesi 2024, Demoyu Ücretsiz Oynayın Golden Easter Slot İncelemesi 2024, Demoyu Ücretsiz Oynayın 1xbet Türkiye Giriş Empieza Kayıt 202 Kumar Ve Kumarhaneler Hakkında Pek İlginç 21 Bilgi Kumarhane Doğru Yazımı Nedir? Tdk Ile Kumarhane Kelimesinin Doğru Yazılışı! Mobilbahiste En İyi Kumar Bonusları Ve Kazançlar Mobilbahis Giriş Sayfası On Line Casino Siteleri En Iyi Casino Siteleri 2024 Mostbet: Türkiye’de Internet Casino Mostbet Online Slotlar Ve Canlı-casin Pin Up Casino Oyna Türkiye, Pinup’un Sah Web Sites Ifade Haberleri Son Dakika Ifade Hakkında Güncel Haber Ve Bilgiler “önceliğimiz Transferin Önünü Açmak, Görüştüğümüz Yerler Var” On Line Casino Nuh’un Gemisi Deluxe Resort & Spa, Kıbrıs Bonus Veren Siteler 3 000 Den Fazla Online Oyunu Ücretsiz Oyna En Tehlikeli Kumar Oyunu Ekşi Sözlük Deneme Bonusu Veren Siteler Deneme Bonusu 2024 Explore the Magic of WildCardCity Güvenilir Bahis Siteleri En İyi Kumar Siteleri Balıkesir Triatlonuna Avrupadan Ödül Tricks of the Aviator gambling establishment game by Spribe Çevrim Içi Kumar Siteleri “bonus” Yalanıyla Kandırıyor En Güvenilir Canlı On Line Casino Siteleri Xbetting-tips Com Uncovering the Abundant Tapestry of Ozwin Gambling establishment Evaluating Board Portal Providers Uncovering the Wealthy Tapestry of Ozwin On line casino Electronic Data Area Providers Evaluation Cobra Internet casino: Raising the Australian On the internet Video gaming Practical experience 4 Things to Search for in Safeguarded Cloud Safe-keeping Fastpay On line casino Australia – Simple and No-Taxation Wagering Web page officielle franзaise de Joka Gambling establishment The Software Development Universe Game Woo Internet casino – Enjoy Slot machine games around australia Ostdeutsche Biersorten What Are Virtual Data Rooms? Vitamin D Receptor Polymorphisms Revue du Casino BlackLabel Faktory, kterй ovlivnujн hodnocenн ceskэch online kasin How to Make the Most of Your Web Development Organization and Advertising Efforts L’essor des casinos en ligne en France Boost Meeting Efficiency With Boardroom Technology Developments WildJoker Casino WildCardCity On line casino – Guaranteed Australian Gambling Portal WildCardCity Casino – The Ideal On the internet Gambling establishment within australia Modern Technologies Produce Sharing Documents Online Faster and More Protect Free Virtual Info Room pertaining to Speedy Due Diligence A Review of Data Area Software For people who do buiness Five Board Bedroom Features Which will help You Acquire a More Productive Boardroom Electronic Systems To your Business Understanding Legal Terms and Laws in Today’s World The Laws and Contracts of Hollywood: A Sunset Blvd. Tale Legal Discussion Between Johnny Cash and Antonin Scalia Legal Insights: What Teens Should Know Legal Issues and Exceptions: What You Need to Know Legal Insights and Expert Analysis Celebrity Dialogue: Legal Matters in the 21st Century Famous Personalities Discuss Legal Issues The Boys in the Boat: Legal Advisors and The Quest for Legal Knowledge Understanding Legal Matters: Q&A on Criminal Law, Joint Ventures, and More Enticing Title The Departed: Understanding Basic Work Requirements and Legal Rights Youth Slang Blog Article Legal Insights: A Journey into the World of Law The Ins and Outs of Legal Matters: Everything You Need to Know Legal Insights and Trends: A Rap Guide Mysterious Legal Matters Unveiled Insights and Information: Understanding Various Laws and Regulations Famous People of the 21st Century The Circle of Legal Life The Intersection of Fashion Law, Legal Translation, and THC Oil: A Modern Legal Guide Legal Q&A: Understanding Joinder Federal Rules and More Understanding Legal Terms and Conditions: A Comprehensive Guide Understanding Legal Documentation in a Fun Way! Understanding Legal Aspects: From Islamic Law of Inheritance to Farm Law Protests Understanding Legal Rights: A Guide to Legal Regulations and Requirements Understanding Legal Guidelines and Agreements Famous 21st Century People in Conversation Mysterious Legal Matters Unveiled Legal Matters and Real Estate: A Conversation Between Cameron Boyce and Donald Trump Understanding Legal Expertise and Why It Matters Legal FAQs and Expert Services Understanding Legal Ramifications: Common Law Ontario Health Benefits and More The Ins and Outs of Legal Requirements: From FBI Academy Physical Requirements to Silver Lake Fishing Rules The Legal Underworld: Understanding the Significance of Laws and Rights Legal Conversations: A Dialogue Between Jon Jones and Chadwick Boseman Legal Beats: Bobcats, Real Estate, Babysitting, and More

Technology

Silicon Valley's biggest start-up factory is making a bet on biotech, but it's not an obvious fit

Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s best known start-up accelerator, thinks it has found a new type of biotechnology start-up.

Life-sciences companies come with a high risk of failure—often, the science behind a proposed invention isn’t entirely proven, and turns out not to work. Because of this risk, the traditional way to fund early-stage life sciences companies is for a landmark East Coast investor, such as Third Rock or Flagship, to take a huge equity stake in the business and replace the founder with a seasoned executive. In exchange, it pumps tens of millions of dollars into the company over many years. It often takes more than a decade to generate a return.

But YC is betting that biotech start-ups that use the latest computer science technologies such as machine learning, will grow much more quickly than their counterparts, and thus should be funded more like tech start-ups.

A classic example is YC’s first biotech company: Ginkgo Bioworks, which bills itself as scaling the process of organism engineering using “software and hardware automation.” After graduating from YC in 2014, the company went on to raise more than $150 million from tech investors including Felicis Ventures and Data Collective.

Biotech is is now a serious category for the fund. Y Combinator is about to add another part-time partner with health and biotech expertise to its ranks, alongside existing partner Elizabeth Iorns (Altman declined to name them, as the plans have not yet been finalized).

“When I took over YC in 2014 I made a list of things I wanted to get into,” said the company’s president Sam Altman. “Health and synthetic biologies were two of the categories.”

Y Combinator’s interest in biotech came at an ideal time.

In the past few years, Sand Hill Road investors ranging from Andreessen Horowitz to GV (formerly Google Ventures) are eyeing companies that bring advanced computing to areas like disease detection and drug development, which they hope will scale at fraction of the cost than traditional biotech companies.

CRV investor George Zachary is also a convert, recently shifting his focus from tech to companies that are “advancing health through computer science.”

Altman said it wasn’t always this way. “When we started funding bio companies, Sand Hill Road hadn’t decided they liked it yet,” he explained. “But it turns out that there was interest in a few years from West Coast tech.”‘

But so far, YC’s biotech founders have found only mixed success appealing to Silicon Valley.

YC graduate Ethan Perlstein is currently fundraising for Perlara, a start-up that is focused on finding treatments for rare diseases. In his experience, it has been a challenge for many Y Combinator alumni in the sector to raise their first big round of venture financing. Sand Hill Road’s investors will open the door, he said, but few are willing to write a big check for a first round.

YC’s partners acknowledged the challenge, but said it isn’t unique to its health care companies.

“I think that raising a true series A round is challenging for a lot of companies right now, which isn’t specific to therapeutics,” explained Iorns, CEO of a start-up called Science Exchange and a part-time partner at Y Combinator.

Iorns said Y Combinator companies that have an “element of machine learning or computational biology” are actually among the most sought-after overall. That’s in large part due to the success of cancer drug development start-up Stemcentrx, which sold in 2016 for $10.2 billion to AbbVie. Stemcentrx, which was funded in 2008, claimes to use “new technologies and paradigms” to discover new drug therapies.

But biotech is an uneasy fit for a culture steeped in software, and online companies that can turn on a dime.

Unlike traditional biotech start-ups, which remain in stealth mode for years until they get strong scientific evidence to back up their claims, start-ups that get accepted into the Y Combinator’s must demo a minimally viable product in 3 months.

Some outsiders are skeptical.

“YC wants to fund tech people that do biotech, rather than embracing what it takes to do biotech,” said Ryan Bethencourt, venture partner with IndieBio, an accelerator program that focuses on synthetic biology companies.

“But YC doesn’t have the expertise to tackle an established industry with regulatory hurdles, pricing and reimbursement complexities,” he added. “They haven’t changed the model enough to reliably build therapeutics companies.”

Altman said that Y Combinator recognizes that health companies have some unique challenges relative to tech — and that “it takes longer” than other sectors. But he also believes there are some aspects of the business that can be done quickly, such as getting introductions to potential customers for early pilots. He also thinks the opportunity is too huge to pass up.

“I’m super excited about the entrepreneurial focus in health and biotech,” he said. “It’s one of these mind-blowing moments where we’re not that far away from an A.I. doctor.”

Source: Tech CNBC
Silicon Valley's biggest start-up factory is making a bet on biotech, but it's not an obvious fit

Comments are closed.