Samsara has become an active investment firm in the biotech startup space in recent years. As an investment group founded in 2019, Samsara manages over $1 billion in committed capital across its growth and venture funds. They focus on backing innovative life science companies that have the potential to bring transformative medicines to patients. Here is an overview of some of the key Samsara investments in biotech startups over the past few years.
Samsara Leads Orbital Therapeutics’ $270 Million Series A in 2022
In 2022, Samsara led the massive $270 million Series A round for Orbital Therapeutics, an early-stage biotech company developing next-generation genetic medicines using RNA. Other notable investors in this round included a16z, ARCH Venture Partners, and Redmile Group. This large amount of capital will support Orbital’s efforts to advance its platform of technologies for engineering and delivering circular RNA.
Samsara Joins $250 Million Series B for Kriya Therapeutics in 2022
Samsara participated in the $250 million Series B round for Kriya Therapeutics in 2022 alongside investors like Bluebird Ventures and Eli Lilly. Kriya is using AI and machine learning to develop novel gene therapies. This significant funding will help expand Kriya’s pipeline across several disease areas including ophthalmology, oncology, rare diseases, and chronic disorders.
Samsara Invests in ElevateBio’s $525 Million Series C Round in 2021
In 2021, Samsara invested in ElevateBio’s massive $525 million Series C financing. ElevateBio is building a technology platform for developing cell, gene, and protein therapies. The funding supported ElevateBio’s overall platform expansion as well as its gene therapy manufacturing capabilities. Other notable investors in this round included Matrix Capital Management, Softbank Vision Fund 2, and Fidelity.
Samsara Backs Generation Bio’s $110 Million Series C in 2020
Samsara participated in the $110 million Series C round for Generation Bio in 2020. Generation Bio is focused on developing novel non-viral gene therapy programs. The Series C proceeds helped support Generation Bio’s pipeline and manufacturing operations. This startup went public later in 2020.
Samsara Invests in Morphic Therapeutic’s $80 Million Series B in 2018
Back in 2018, Samsara invested in Morphic Therapeutic’s $80 million Series B round. Morphic Therapeutics leverages new insights in integrin structure and biology to develop novel therapeutics. The Series B financing helped Morphic advance multiple programs into clinical trials and expand its discovery platform.
In summary, Samsara has deployed significant capital in recent years to back innovative biotech startups working on transformative platforms and therapies like gene editing, cell therapy, RNA technologies, and integrin inhibitors.