New York City is working on establishing a $100m biotechnology fund to invest in local, life sciences startups. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, New York City will invest $10m, while $40m will be provided by GE Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of industrial conglomerate GE, together with pharmaceutical companies Celgene Corporation and Eli Lilly. New York City’s Economic Development Corporation is still looking for a venture capital firm to invest the balance of $50m and to manage the fund, which is expected to back 15 – 20 startups.
Kyle Kimball, president of the Economic Development Corporation, said: “This is a much bigger picture look of what needs to happen with life sciences in the city.”