A venture capital firm that seeks to digitize the life sciences ecosystem has plans for a $500 million follow-up fund, according to a Tuesday SEC filing.
The firm, Dimension Capital, debuted in January 2023 with a $350 million inaugural fund, and invests in startups from young entrepreneurs, academics and engineers, according to its website.
Representatives for the investor didn’t immediately respond to questions about the new $500 million fund.
Dimension’s portfolio includes startups like plant chemistry-inspired Enveda Biosciences, AI foundation model-based Chai Discovery and others, including the next bet from the founder of obesity biotech Carmot Therapeutics.
There have been signs that young venture firms have struggled to raise new money for second funds. Across the VC ecosystem, about 37% of first-time VCs cannot raise a second fund, according to a PitchBook report from February.
Dimension’s leaders have a track record behind them, however. It was founded by ex-Lux investors Adam Goulburn and Zavain Dar, as well as former Obvious venture partner Nan Li.
“I suspect most will look at our strategy today as niche (and frankly I want them to continue to do so for as long as possible),” Dar said in a Slack interview with Endpoints News in February. “In 10 years, though, this will be the primary strategy for value creation and capture in the ecosystem.”
At the time of its launch, Goulburn told Endpoints that Dimension aimed to be a “lighthouse firm for the digitization of the life sciences industry.” The firm said then it sees biologists, chemists and computer scientists coming together to lead the next generation of companies in the life sciences field.
“That siloing is just so outdated,” Li said in January 2023, noting Dimension wanted to be a “one-stop shop” for nascent entrepreneurs.
Dimension was among a crop of new life science investment firms to emerge in early 2023, including Curie.Bio (which disclosed another fund in June), NYBC Ventures and Cure Ventures.
If successful, Dimension’s proposed raise would add to a growing list of life sciences investors who have recently laid out additional funds, including at Flagship, Bain, ARCH and Forbion. Some smaller firms are also pulling in capital, including KdT Ventures, Asabys Partners and others.