A venture firm with Illumina as its majority investor is charging ahead with its next batch of capital as the DNA sequencing company endeavors on its own three-year return-to-growth strategy.
Illumina Ventures, the eponymous but independently managed VC firm focused on healthcare companies, is setting out to raise a $300 million third fund, according to a new SEC document signed Wednesday by founding partner Nick Naclerio. He’s led the firm since its beginning in 2016, after holding an SVP role at Illumina.
Nick NaclerioThe new fund has yet to reel in its first pool of capital, according to the filing. The offering is not expected to last more than one year, according to the SEC paperwork.
It appears to be a smaller aim than the previous fund, when Illumina Ventures disclosed it had $325 million in total commitments for its second fund in September 2021. Since then, it lost partner Alexis Ji, who formed her own life sciences VC firm Primer Ventures in early 2023.
Spokespeople for Illumina Ventures and Illumina didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from Endpoints News.
Illumina Ventures added two new advisors last month: Timothy Stenzel, a former FDA Office of In Vitro Diagnostics director; and Jerry Steiner, former CEO of oilseed producer CoverCress and ex-Monsanto EVP.
“We continue to add to our depth of knowledge and operational experience to improve human and planetary health with industry thought leaders like Dr. Stenzel and Mr. Steiner,” Naclerio said in a press release.
The Bay Area firm invests in early-stage drug developers, diagnostics makers, digital health companies, life science tools startups and sustainability-focused companies, including those in agriculture technology. In January, it also announced the launch of Illumina Ventures Labs, which helps create companies and provides genomics labs in Foster City, CA, and Cambridge, UK.
Illumina Ventures had a portfolio of about 40 companies as of June 25. That includes genetic medicines startup Arbor Biotechnologies, cancer detection startup DELFI Diagnostics, AI-driven drug discoverer Iambic Therapeutics and home health test kit company LetsGetChecked, which Axios reported this week is acquiring digital pharmacy Truepill.
Some have recently shuttered: SQZ Biotechnologies liquidated and sold assets, and Walking Fish Therapeutics ended its engineered B cell therapy mission this spring.