Altitude Lab Launches Investor Coalition to Fund and Mentor Healthcare Startups in Utah
June 11, 2021
On June 8, Altitude Lab has announced the launch of its Investor Coalition, a partnered network of leading healthcare venture capitalists to fund, mentor, and provide resources for Altitude-incubated startups. Together, the investor coalition aims to collectively invest $50 million in Altitude’s startups over the next three years, specifically supporting diverse and underrepresented founders.
In a statement issued following the announcement President and CEO of BioUtah, Kelvyn Cullimore, said “This is very welcome news for Utah’s life sciences industry. The Investor Coalition, will help promote diversity within the state’s healthcare innovation economy and help advance the next generation of life-changing medical devices, diagnostics and treatments. BioUtah applauds Altitude for adding this important investment tool to its wheelhouse and look forward to working together to attract and lift up innovators from every corner of our community.”
Lux Capital, Mubadala Capital, Obvious Ventures, and DCVC are among the founding group of investors.
“Lack of access to top-tier investors is a crippling gap for founders in nontraditional geographies or of underrepresented backgrounds,” explained Chandana Haque, executive director of Altitude Lab. “Support from experienced investors can completely change the trajectory of a startup. It’s our mission to connect founders from all backgrounds to the capital and resources that will propel them to not only compete but excel in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.”
“We have backed transformative companies around the world that are reimagining healthcare and drug discovery. From our long-standing work with Recursion, it’s clear that something special is happening in Utah.” Shared Nan Li, managing director at Obvious Ventures. “We are excited to deepen our involvement in the region and are looking forward to working with visionary companies coming out of Altitude Lab.”
Altitude Lab, founded in 2020 by Recursion and The University of Utah’s PIVOT Center, is building a new, representative generation of founders to seed the next cycle of healthcare innovation in Utah’s BioHive. Located in University of Utah Research Park, Altitude Lab is an incubator focused on early-stage life science and healthcare companies.
Learn more about Altitude Lab and apply for residency at altitudelab.org.