ARCH Venture Partners (ARCH) is an American venture capital firm based in Chicago. The firm mainly invests in companies from the biotechnology industry but has also invested other industries such as semiconductors and technology.

ARCH Venture Management LLC
ARCH Venture Partners
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture Capital
Founded1986; 38 years ago (1986)
Founders
  • Steven Lazarus
  • Clinton Bybee
  • Keith Crandell
  • Robert Nelsen
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois, U.S.
ProductsInvestments
AUMUS$9 billion (2022)
Websitearchventure.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2]

Background

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In 1986, the ARCH Development Corporation was initially created by the University of Chicago and the Argonne National Laboratory as a non-profit initiative to commercialize the technology developed by them.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The name ARCH reflects this origin with "AR" from Argonne and "CH" from the University of Chicago.[7] ARCH Development Corporation was led by Steven Lazarus who was Deputy Dean of University of Chicago Booth School of Business.[6][7][9] Lazarus noted that spin-off company plans were hindered by lack of external capital, so a venture fund would be created to provide it.[7][9][10]

In 1989, the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory provided around $9 million in capital for ARCH Development Corporation's first fund, ARCH Venture Fund Limited Partnership.[3][7][8][9] It was believed to be first venture capital fund to be established between a major U.S. laboratory and university and the first to be fully pledged by a group of investors.[9] The first fund invested in twelve companies with 7-8 of them being successful investments.[6][7]

After the success of the first fund, the university stated it no longer considered ARCH Development Corporation as an experiment and wasn't comfortable continuing as general partner of a venture fund so it proposed that ARCH Development Corporation would focus on licensing and business development of technologies while capital raising will be done outside the university .[6][8] In 1992, Lazarus along with Booth Graduate students, Clint Bybee, Keith Crandell and Bob Nelsen left the university to set up ARCH Venture Partners as an independent firm to raise capital.[6][7][8]

The firm mainly invests in companies that are in the biotechnology, semiconductors and computing fields.[2][3][4][5]

ARCH Venture Partners is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in Seattle, San Francisco and Dublin.[11]

On June 10, 2018, Lazarus passed away and the firm's management was succeeded by the other co-founders.[12]

Funds

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Fund[13] Vintage Year Committed Capital ($m)
ARCH Venture Fund I 1989 USD 9
ARCH Venture Fund II 1993 USD 31
ARCH Venture Fund III 1996 USD 107
ARCH Venture Fund IV 1999 USD 175
ARCH Venture Fund V 2001 USD 380
ARCH Venture Fund VI 2004 USD 350
ARCH Venture Fund VII 2007 USD 400
ARCH Venture Fund VIII 2014 USD 560
ARCH Venture Fund IX 2016 USD 1,100
ARCH Venture Fund X 2020 USD 1,460
ARCH Venture Fund XI[14] 2021 USD 1,941
ARCH Venture Fund XII[3][14] 2022 USD 2,975

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "American VC firm Arch launches $3bn biomedical fund with eye on Japan - Nikkei Asia". June 13, 2022. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "ARCH Venture Partners: Stay in School - | Venture Capital Journal". June 21, 2021. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "ARCH raises $350M fund". www.bizjournals.com. March 11, 2004. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Biotech investor raises $3 billion in new fund". Crain's Chicago Business. June 29, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Done Deals - Venture Capitalists Tell Their Stories - Lazarus". HBS Working Knowledge. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Interview with David Cruikshank | UNC Innovation & Entrepreneurship | Innovate Carolina". innovate.unc.edu. November 15, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Sciences (US), National Academy of; Roundtable, National Academy of Engineering (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Government-University-Industry Research (1999). Presentation by Teri Willey Vice-President, ARCH Development Corporation at the Workshop on Overcoming Barriers to Collaborative Research March 23–24, 1998. National Academies Press (US).
  9. ^ a b c d "U. OF C., LAB FORM VENTURE CAPITAL FUND". Chicago Tribune. February 13, 1989. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  10. ^ "University Fund to Turn Inventions Into Products". Arlington Heights Daily Herald. Associated Press. February 15, 1989. p. Section 4, page 2.
  11. ^ "Contact". ARCH Venture Partners. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "STEVEN LAZARUS Obituary (1931 - 2018) - Chicago, IL - The Washington Post". Legacy.com. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  13. ^ "ARCH Venture | Palico". www.palico.com. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Proskauer Advises ARCH Venture Partners in Closing of $2.975 Billion Fund XII - Insights - Proskauer Rose LLP". Proskauer. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
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