Novartis Venture Fund Research
Investment Thesis
The Novartis Venture Fund (NVF) is the corporate venture arm of Novartis. It was created, in its own words, to foster innovation, drive significant patient benefit, and generate superior returns by nurturing and investing in innovative life science companies. It makes equity investments in biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies developing novel therapeutics and platforms that address unmet patient needs across the healthcare spectrum. The firm says it wants both financial return and real clinical impact. It evaluates the science behind a product and the depth and experience of the team with equal weight.
Sector Focus
NVF invests in therapeutics and therapeutic platforms across a broad range of therapeutic areas and drug modalities. The portfolio includes oncology (Fore Biotherapeutics, CatalYm, Artios), neuroscience (AstronauTx, LoQus23, Kynexis, NRG Therapeutics), gene and cell therapy (GentiBio, Vivet, SpliceBio), immunology and inflammation (Citryll, Epsilogen, Anaveon) and ophthalmology (ONL Therapeutics, RhyGaze). NVF states plainly that it does not invest in medtech or diagnostics.
Stage Focus
The primary focus is seed and Series A. NVF says it is open to later-stage companies too, and that it invests at any stage of company development, from early startups to later-stage clinical companies.
Check Size
NVF specializes in investments of USD 5-10 million and allocates up to USD 25 million per company across financing rounds. Third-party profiles list a first ticket of USD 5-25 million.
Lead Tendency
NVF both leads and follows. It led the extension of Kynexis's Series A to EUR 97 million as a new investor, with existing investors Forbion, Ysios Capital and Sunstone Life Science Ventures participating. It also co-invests in syndicates alongside specialist life science funds.
Recent Activity
The portfolio page shows several recent additions, with logos uploaded in 2026: Atalanta, EpiBiologics, Salvina, Protego, Sidewinder Therapeutics, Seawolf Therapeutics and Kynexis. Tracxn's profile (October 2026) shows 3 new investments in the prior 12 months, though it counts many more historical deals than the website. The firm manages over USD 750 million in committed capital and more than 40 active portfolio companies.
Portfolio Highlights
Since its founding in 1996, NVF reports taking over 70 companies to an exit: nearly 40 IPOs and over 30 M&As by large pharma acquirers, with several drugs reaching FDA approval. It reports that its portfolio companies have created more than 1,000 jobs. The current portfolio of 31 named companies spans North America and Europe.
Team
- Anja Koenig, Global Head of NVF (Basel)
- Bart Dzikowski, Managing Director, Head of Transactions & Legal (Basel)
- Florian Muellershausen, Managing Director (Basel)
- Marianne Uteng, Managing Director (Basel)
- Laura Brass, Managing Director (Cambridge, MA)
- Adam Cotton, Principal (Cambridge, MA)
- Mathias Frederiksen, Principal (Basel)
- Elena Battistello, Associate (Basel)
- Michelle Ma, Associate (Cambridge, MA)
- Samantha Guinn, Analyst (Cambridge, MA)
The NVF board of directors includes Christoph Meier, Elaine Jones, Fiona H. Marshall, Michael Gilman, Michael Hengartner, Mukul Mehta and Shreeram Aradhye. The team's backgrounds span medicine, science, legal, investment and business development.
Decision Process
The site describes a staged process. The team reviews all non-confidential information on the company and examines its people, technology, data, finances and exit ambitions. A confidential discussion with the company follows, then thorough due diligence. The decision is made by the investment team as a partnership. Whether Novartis corporate sign-off is needed is not stated.
Founder Preferences
NVF looks for products under development that address an unmet clinical need, and for teams with deep scientific and operating experience. It prefers an active, hands-on role and usually takes a board seat. Portfolio pages also show partners joining as observers.
Geographic Focus
North America and Europe, run from offices in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Notes and Gaps
The portfolio page lists company names only, with no round stage or investment dates, so stage at investment is not recorded per company. Portfolio company domains were not confirmed from the page and are left null. Fund vintage and fund count are not disclosed on the site. Individual team LinkedIn and email details were not published on the team page.