venture capital firms are notoriously guarded about the kind of financial returns they get back from an individual deal, let alone how well their entire fund is performing. But information about which firms’ portfolios have shown the best performance is crucial for investors, biotech companies and analysts, especially in a year of economic downturn.
In the fourth annual edition of STAT’s “Ranking biotech’s top venture capital firms,” released this week, we dig deep to show not only which firms’ portfolios of past investments have best weathered the economic storm but how the disturbance is affecting the new investments they’re making or the new funds they are raising.
The report assesses returns for 18 firms that invest in biotech companies. STAT’s rankings are based on data obtained through public records requests and reflect the status of companies near the end of the previous year — in the case of the 2023 report, September 2022. The 2022 data highlights signs of strain from the ongoing market downturn, and looks at how firms have done.
ARCH Venture Partners, the long-running investment firm that in recent years has dedicated itself to backing biotechs with grandiose plans, is no stranger to the top tiers of STAT’s VC rankings, but in this year’s rankings it moved into first place. Alta Partners and Flagship Pioneering earned second and third place in the rankings.