Venture Firm OMX Plans New Fund for Biotech

"OMX Ventures, a venture-capital firm led by investors with a history of backing successful life-sciences-technology companies, aims to raise $250 million for a new fund this year.

OMX formed in 2020 as four investors with experience at other venture firms came together. The firm that year closed a $150 million debut fund with commitments from investors including family offices and individuals, and invested it in 17 startups. Last year, it raised a $75 million opportunity fund to invest further in some of its most-promising companies, Managing Director Daniel Fero said.

U.S. venture firms last year raised a record $28.3 billion to fund healthcare startups, up from the previous high of $16.8 billion in 2020, as investors rapidly deployed capital and sold or took portfolio companies public, according to Silicon Valley Bank.

OMX aims to close its latest fund by year-end with plans to back 25 startups, Dr. Fero said. While some life-sciences firms focus solely on drug companies, OMX invests frequently in technologies that enable drug and biological research.

Before launching OMX, the firm's team members funded companies such as 10x Genomics Inc., a provider of instruments for single-cell research that went public in 2019 and now has a market capitalization of around $11 billion; and DNA-synthesis company Twist Bioscience Corp., which went public in 2018 and has a market cap of about $3 billion.

In addition to Dr. Fero, who previously invested with Twist backer Merieux Equity Partners, OMX's managing directors are Nick Haft, who previously invested with Arcos Ventures and Morgan Noble, and Craig Asher, who previously invested with Trancos Ventures and Vital Venture Capital, which backed 10x and Twist.

Paul Conley, an OMX limited partner, leads General Inception, an OMX startup incubator in Palo Alto, Calif.

OMX is based in Lincolnshire, Ill., from where it runs its administrative functions. Its investors operate from their respective locations, with Mr. Haft in New York, Dr. Asher in Washington, D.C., Mr. Fero in Boston and Dr. Conley on the West Coast.

Having collaborated as members of different firms, OMX's founders realized they shared views on investing in life sciences and decided to start their own firm. "We wanted to work together and create our own destiny to some extent," Dr. Fero said.

Life-sciences toolmakers, such as 10x, stand to benefit from the explosion of biotech research. Data from these tools can inform the development of therapeutics and make them more effective, Mr. Asher said.

OMX, which funds startups in their earliest stages, helps entrepreneurs build their businesses. Strong intellectual property, for instance, is vital to life-sciences toolmakers because of competition in the industry, said Bill Colston, CEO of Sestina Bio LLC, a startup that has raised seed financing from OMX, Foresite Capital and General Inception to create molecules using synthetic biology for sectors such as personal care.

Mr. Asher works with attorneys to help companies solidify intellectual property, said Dr. Colston." [1]

1. Venture Firm OMX Plans New Fund for Biotech
Gormley, Brian. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 04 Feb 2022: B.4.