Carole Nuechterlein has headed the Roche Venture Fund (RVF) since 2001, but even after the significant time at the top of the Switzerland-based drugs company’s corporate venturing unit, she has said her challenges remained “exits and finding the diamonds in the rough”.
She manages Roche’s Sfr500m ($530m) evergreen venture fund, which means it can reinvest in new deals the proceeds from exited portfolio companies, and its 24 portfolio companies listed on its website, including genetics testing company 23andMe. Last month, Roche bulked up its portfolio further, joining the $42.6m round for Second Genome and $34m backing of Lumos.
But it is exits that Roche is particularly well-known for. With 17 trade sales and 14 flotations of portfolio companies across its history. The diamonds in the rough also includes going outside the core pharma sector to explore how digital health and communications could offer opportunities, including Nuechterlein attending Swisscom’s biannual telecoms corporate venturing summit last year.
Before RVF, Nuechterlein worked in Roche as an attorney for 10 years. She joined Roche from SangStat in Fremont, California, where she was general counsel. She began her career working at law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom in its mergers and acquisitions group. From there, she worked at Syntex/Roche in Palo Alto, California, focusing on M&A, research collaborations and licensing deals.
Due to her background in M&A and law, Nuechterlein led the negotiation team for Roche’s acquisitions of GlycArt and Therapeutic Human Polyclonals. She currently serves as a board observer at Aileron, Alios, Ambit, Ambrx, Conatus, Envoy, Idaho Technology and Nereus. She has a BA from Valparaiso University and a JD (juris doctor) from University of Michigan.
Roche’s investment activity since the beginning of 2015
