Westlake Bio Unveils $320M Fund to Put Los Angeles on the Biotech Map
Summary
Kleiner Perkins invests in both technology and life sciences, and although there is growing overlap between the two fields, Seidenberg says she’ll have more opportunities at Westlake.Westlake will invest primarily in pharmaceutical and biotech companies, but the firm will be open to other technologies with medical applications, says Seidenberg.Westlake has already started talking with entrepreneurs, though Seidenberg declined to discuss additional details such as the therapeutic areas of potential investments.The Los Angeles area attracts a fair amount of venture capital—it was the nation’s fifth largest market from 2006 to 2016, according to Pitchbook —but most of the investment is in is in high tech.“The thing that’s really been missing in terms of sparking a really vibrant ecosystem like you see in Boston and San Francisco is having a dedicated life sciences venture group that knows what it’s doing from a scientific and technical perspective,” Harper says.