Partners Innovation Fund
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"To address an unmet need for funding emerging technology in the capital gap"[edit ]
Last modified: October 8, 2010, 11:46AM
Goes to: Market technologies developed by Partners HealthCare investigators[edit What it goes to]
Description[edit]
The primary objective of the Fund is to accelerate to market technologies developed by Partners HealthCare investigators, thereby improving health care quality, cost and outcomes. Structured as a separate LLC entity, the $35M Fund is designed to be evergreen with all gains from investments recycling back into the fund to create capital for additional investments. Investment decision oversight is provided by an independent external committee composed of experts from industry, venture capital and academia.
The Fund operates on a classic venture capital model whereby opportunities are rigorously evaluated on the basis of technical merit, market strength and business model all within an overall commercialization scenario.
The Fund has four major goals:
- Capture more value from the Partners HealthCare research portfolio.
- Bridge the capital gap between discovery and clinical trials.
- Attract external capital by demonstrating institutional commitment.
- Generate a return on investment to refresh capital for additional technology investments.
Eligibility[edit]
Any technology, clinician or investigator in the Partners system is eligible for funding. Investigators should contact the Licensing Manager for your entity and department, or contact the Fund Team directly. The Fund Team will arrange a meeting and begin the diligence process described below. Throughout this process the Fund Team works with investigators and many others to evaluate the commercial viability and pathway of the opportunity.
Judging Criteria[edit]
Utilizing a proven venture capital based diligence model, the team conducts in-depth diligence on all opportunities in two steps:
1. Initial Screening: Assesses opportunities for high commercial potential. Key project attributes are:
- Product concept and value proposition
- Intellectual Property Position
- Stage of technology development
- Market Opportunity
- Technology Review
- Management Team
- Regulatory pathway
- Funding requirements
- Competitive Analysis
- Business Model
2. Evaluation and Investment Decision: During this step, PIF staff conducts extensive diligence to assess the strength of the proposed business in relation to our investment criteria. This process takes place over 3 to 6 months during which time we interact with technical and market experts, possible customers, competitors and potential co-investors as we prepare for presentation of the investment opportunity to our external Investment Committee for final approval.
The team will work with investigators and their advisors to develop a project or business plan including connections to potential entrepreneurs, advisors and investors in the venture, private or corporate arena.