Black Opal Ventures

. I am thrilled to share Black Opal Ventures portfolio company Conceivable Life Sciences introduced the world’s first end to end automation platform for the IVF process. IVF has helped thousands of families in their struggle with infertility; however, the high failure rates are still a significant source of personal pain and suffering for those who undergo treatment. Those failure rates are also responsible for keeping the cost of just one treatment which often fails the first time in the $10k-$30k range making IVF an impossible option due to the financial burden. Conceivable’s technology should significantly bring down the cost of IVF so that anyone regardless of socioeconomic status can have access to care #blackopalventures #deeptechhealth #brilliantomorrows

Congratulations to Illumen Capital on the publication of their most recent impact report. We are amazed by the deep commitment by Illumen Capital to address systemic inequity by reducing racial and gender bias in investing. One statistic that stood out to me: women-led funds increased our share of venture funding to 3% in 2023. Although an increase, the percentage is dismal. At Black Opal Ventures we are working hard to change that percentage and are excited about future of women-led funds.

Great to read about the broad impact that New Summit Investments is having on the UN Sustainable Development goals in their recent impact report. We are thrilled to be a part of the New Summit Investments investment portfolio and to see our portfolio company Conceivable Life Sciences featured in the report. Thank you to Alexandra Ellis and the whole team at New Summit Investments for supporting the vision of Black Opal Ventures.

2 years ago, Black Opal Ventures Ventures invested in Conceivable Life Sciences back when we were barely past the napkin stage of mapping out the AI, advanced optics, and robotic components needed to automate 90% of the manual steps performed in embryogenesis. 2 days ago, Black Opal’s founder Tara Bishop MD, MPH visited our R&D lab in Guadalajara. Tara dusted off her old lab skills by preparing IVF dishes following traditional manual protocols. 2 hours later, Tara watched Conceivable’s automated C:DISH workstation label, pipette growth media, verify volumes, and cover growth media with oil. All with no human intervention. 2 minutes later a robotic handler gently guided the dishes to an incubator. The demonstration showcased how an automated IVF lab is more precise, reduces risks, and will provide better outcomes for patients. We can’t wait to have Aike Ho Fred Destin & D.A. Wallach down to see our progress. Thank you Tara for taking 2 days out of your intense schedule. #IVF #IVFAutomation #biotechnology Alejandro Chavez-Badiola, MD, PhD ACME Capital Stride Ventures Time BioVentures

⭐ Please join us in welcoming Dr. Carina Tyrrell to Black Opal Ventures as our newest Venture Partner!   Dr. Tyrrell brings a wealth of experience as a Cambridge University physician-scientist by background. She was a former Goldman Sachs Analyst and a venture capitalist who has worked alongside the former President of Samsung. She gained recognition for her role in developing the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, as featured on the front page of The Times. In addition to her investment and advisory work, Dr. Tyrrell sits on the boards of several health and technology companies, is a Fellow at Cambridge University, and serves on the board of an NHS hospital Trust.

Change is coming!

Congratulations Rajeev Shrivastava! Looking forward to the future of TigerGraph as they “continue to push the envelope, developing cutting-edge solutions that leverage the power of graph technology”.

We are excited to share that the NYSE joined us in celebrating the successful closing of our $144M Series B financing on their Trading Floor last week! This significant milestone will accelerate the clinical development of our AI-powered cell therapies for patients battling #ovariancancer and other #solidtumors. Additionally, this financing will support the further expansion of our pipeline and platform. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eimM3UZi Thank you to all our investors and partners for your support. We look forward to working together to deliver on the promise of #celltherapy in #solidtumors with unrivaled #AI-powered #proteindesign. The #SeriesB #financing brings our total capital raised to approximately $200 million and was led by RA Capital Management, with participation from new investors Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Sheatree Capital, Black Opal Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments (Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.), and other undisclosed investors. Outpace’s existing investors ARTIS Ventures, Playground Global, Bristol Myers Squibb, Abstract Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Breton Capital Ventures, Washington Research Foundation, Sahsen Ventures, LLC, also participated in the round. #oncology #biotech #syntheticbiology #seattle #Tcell #CART #TCR #celltherapy #NYSE Eric J. Dimise, PhD

🚀 Exciting advancements in healthcare technology are transforming the industry, and Blaze.tech is at the forefront of this revolution! The future of healthcare technology lies not just in what we can build, but in who can build it. Check out this article to learn more about how Blaze is accelerating the future of healthcare.

We are thrilled to announce our investment in Outpace Bio! The Outpace Bio team brings together expert scientists, engineers, coders & cell therapy developers who are reimagining how cells function and are poised to catapult the industry into an era of better, faster, and cheaper drug discovery. We believe that the biotech industry has been long overdue for a major shift, and we have finally entered a new era. This new era is testament to our thesis that industry transforming companies are built at the collision of healthcare and technology. Read more on this investment from Eileen Tanghal, Karthik Ramasubramanian, and Tara Bishop MD, MPH below ⬇