Mission Bay Capital, a newly-formed venture capital firm focused on bioscience companies emerging from the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences and the University of California, has formed its first venture fund.
The USD7.5m Mission Bay Capital Fund will be invested in breakthrough companies whose founders or technologies are associated with the University of California system.
"Mission Bay Capital represents a novel marriage of our ability to find the most promising technologies within the University of California combined with the remarkable investment skills of some of the world’s leading venture capitalists. Together we will fund promising, early-stage companies that might otherwise never see their products reach the marketplace," says Dr. Regis Kelly, pro-bono managing director of Mission Bay Capital and director of QB3. "The QB3 team is exceedingly aware of the gap between discovery and social benefit. Mission Bay Capital affords us the opportunity to help jumpstart bioscience companies, ultimately bringing much needed benefits to society in a timely manner."
Mission Bay Capital is managed by Kelly and Douglas Crawford, who jointly serve as managing directors of the fund in a pro-bono capacity. Both are employed by QB3, where Kelly is director and Crawford is associate director.
MBC will return 20 per cent of its profit to the University of California to populate subsequent MBC funds and provide an endowment for QB3.
Formed to help research laboratory discoveries commercialise more quickly, Mission Bay Capital is currently reviewing business plans from many QB3 and U.C.-related researchers.
