As Tech Giants Fall, Tech-Focused VC Fund Rakes in $350M

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On Wednesday, three venture capitalists debuted Dimension I, a new fund with $350 million to fuel modern biotech.

Dimension’s co-founders – long-time friends, Adam Goulburn, Zavain Dar (both previously at Lux Capital) and Nan Li (from Obvious Ventures) – cut their life science investment teeth as general partners at their previous firms but found the space lacking in one specific area – tech. This follows over 150,000 layoffs in tech in the last six months alone, affecting even industry giants like Google and Amazon.

Capital markets were becoming antiquated, maintaining tech and biotech as siloed disciplines, the group said.

“It wasn’t a question of if or when the realms of technology and life sciences would collide. They already had,” the group said in an open letter to future entrepreneurs.

“Tomorrow’s biotech will no longer be formed by a team of two: a biologist and a chemist, but instead a team of three: a biologist, chemist, and computer scientist.”

The three left their established companies to create Dimension in March of 2022. Surpassing expectations, the maiden fund closed Wednesday oversubscribed at $350 million.

Dimension is primarily focused on startups and already doling out the dough. It led the Series B round for Enveda Biosciences, a biotech building nature’s first high-resolution chemical map for the toughest challenges in drug discovery.

“Dimension is unique in their singular focus on technology x biology, making them an ideal long-term choice for us at Enveda,” Viswa Colluru, CEO of the Colorado biotech, told BioSpace.

Technology Transforming Biopharma

In addition to Enveda, the VC has also invested in Kaleidoscope Bio, Lamin AI and a fourth company still in stealth mode.

Last year, the number of biopharma companies receiving VC funding was down to 50% compared to 2021, according to a report from Evaluate Vantage. The report states that the era of cheap money is over, and many investors are more hesitant than ever to invest in the high-stakes world of drug development.

Big pharma companies increasingly turn to data reservoirs to help inform their R&D pipeline and minimize risk. Both Sanofi and Pfizer recently expanded partnerships with tech company CytoReason.