BioCrossroads announces the formation of the $9 million Indiana Seed Fund III; invests in Scioto Biosciences and Animated Dynamics

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BioCrossroads today announced the formation of its $9 million Indiana Seed Fund III at its Indiana Life Sciences Summit. 

The Indiana Seed Fund III is an early-stage fund focused on identifying, creating and developing the next generation of leading Indiana-based life sciences, health IT, and agbiosciences companies and follow-on fund to the $8.25 million Indiana Seed Fund II. 

BioCrossroads has raised nearly $25 million in seed funding since 2005, resulting in investments in 24 start-up companies. Those companies have gone on to raise more than $400 million, including companies like:

• Assembly Biosciences, which is developing a new class of oral therapeutics for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection as well as a novel class of oral biological therapeutics, which are designed to improve and restore microbiome health.  Assembly went public after a reverse merger with Ventrus Biosciences and now has a market capitalization of approximately $1 billion.
• SonarMed, which has its AirWave Airway Monitoring System currently on the market across the U.S. It is a non-invasive device that monitors endotracheal tube position to help healthcare providers detect and reduce potentially dangerous or fatal endotracheal tube related complications and conditions.
• Anagin, a company formed out of the Indiana University Medical School laboratory of Dr. Anantha Shekhar, which is developing treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, neuropathic pain, depression, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Investors in Indiana Seed Fund III include Eli Lilly and Company, Indiana University, Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Regenstrief Foundation, Walther Foundation, University of Notre Dame and BCI, the for-profit affiliate of BioCrossroads which manages the fund.

The fund has made two investments in Indiana start-up companies: $500,000 to Scioto Biosciences, which is developing a platform technology to deliver microbiome therapies, and $250,000 to Animated Dynamics, a Purdue-based start-up which is developing a diagnostic test for chemotherapy sensitivity.

"BioCrossroads' first two Indiana Seed Funds have performed beyond our expectations – not only in the follow-on investments that our portfolio companies have succeeded in attracting, but in the development of products, partnerships with global life sciences companies, and successful exits," said David L. Johnson, President and CEO of BioCrossroads.  "We continue to see promising translational science coming out of our universities as well as innovations from independent entrepreneurs, and today more than ever, we are developing the entrepreneurial talent to move these ideas into products and services. This early seed capital is transformative to our early-stage companies, and we look forward to seeing what new discoveries can be developed with help from our third fund."

About BioCrossroads
BioCrossroads (www.biocrossroads.com) is Indiana's initiative to grow, advance and invest in the life sciences, a public-private collaboration that supports the region's existing research and corporate strengths while encouraging new business development.  BioCrossroads provides money and support to life sciences businesses, launches new life sciences enterprises (Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, Indiana Health Information Exchange, Fairbanks Institute for Healthy Communities, BioCrossroadsLINX, OrthoWorx and Datalys Center), expands collaboration and partnerships among Indiana's life science institutions, promotes science education and markets Indiana's life sciences industry.

About the Indiana Seed Fund III
The $9 million, return‑driven Indiana Seed Fund III was launched in April 2018.  Managed by BioCrossroads, the Fund is a follow-on to the $8.25 million Indiana Seed Fund II. The Fund makes investments in early-stage biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic, ag-biotech and health information technology products and platforms.

SOURCE BioCrossroads