Alexandria Venture Investments, the strategic investment division of life sciences real estate investment trust (REIT) Alexandria Real Estate Equities, has launched a seed-stage investment platform.
The vehicle, Alexandria Seed Capital Platform, is intended to accelerate seed funding for life sciences technology developers by bringing together participants from across the healthcare venture capital space.
Executives from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Roche and Eli Lilly will be on the unit’s advisory board together with those from VC firm Arch Venture Partners and life sciences investment management firm Accelerator Life Science Partners.
The formation of the initiative follows the firm’s establishment of life science startup platform Alexandria LaunchLabs in June 2017. LaunchLabs has so far admitted 20 applicants and its participants will be able to apply for funding from Alexandria Seed Capital Platform.
Jenna Foger, senior principal of science and technology at Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Alexandria Venture Investments, said: “We look forward to reinforcing a strong pipeline of seed-stage companies and cultivating the next generation of industry leaders.”