F4 Champions · Season 1
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F4 Champions · Season 1
You're researching investors. We want to see what you're building.
Join the open accelerator where your standing changes with what you ship. Enrollment closes August 2.
14 VC firms investing in biotech & life sciences and aerospace & defense at the Growth stage.
F4 Fund tracks 14 VC firms that actively invest in biotech & life sciences + aerospace & defense at the Growth stage, with check sizes ranging from $200K – $500M (median: $15.1M – $15.1M). As of August 2026, and 71% lead or co-lead rounds. Rankings are based on F4's proprietary analysis of 1,556+ researched VC firms, scored by data completeness, portfolio depth, investment recency, and stage alignment.
| # | Firm | Check Size | Portfolio | Leads? | Activity | Decision | Intro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ▶ Initialized Capital Passion and vision matter more than pedigree. We seek founders with grit, audacity, and a spark of rebellion—regardless of background. We invest early, before success is inevitable, and support founders from 0-to-1 through Series A. San Francisco | $250K – $2M | 185 | Leads | Active | ~2 wks | Open |
| 2 | ▶ Founders Fund Back revolutionary technologies and visionary founders who think in first principles. We invest across all stages when conviction exists, providing patient capital and board-level partnership to founders building consequential companies that reshape industries. San Francisco | $500K – $50M | 33 | Leads | Active | ~2 wks | Req'd |
| 3 | ▶ Tesi Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned investment company that helps Finland's most promising companies grow bigger. Tesi invests on market terms as a minority co-investor alongside private capital in Finnish startups, scale-ups, and industrial projects, as well as in VC and PE funds. Its mandate is both financial returns and economic impact — driving growth, jobs, and renewal in the Finnish economy. Helsinki | $1M – $30M | 31 | Follows | Active | 3+ mo | Open |
| 4 | ▶ Sands Capital Long-term, concentrated investment in high-quality innovative growth businesses across public equity, venture capital, and growth equity. Applies six investment criteria universally: sustainable above-average earnings growth, leadership in a promising business space, significant competitive advantages, clear mission, financial strength, and rational valuation. Integrates public and private market insights for superior sourcing and diligence. Arlington, VA | $10M – $150M | 40 | Leads | Active | ~2 mo | Req'd |
| 5 | ▶ Upfront Ventures Early investors and long-term partners. We back exceptional founders solving real problems across sectors. When you hit a bump in the road, we're there solving problems alongside you with operational expertise and network leverage. | $1M – $15M | 49 | Leads | Active | ~2 wks | Req'd |
| 6 | ▶ Alumni Ventures We democratize venture capital by providing individual accredited investors with professional-grade access to elite venture opportunities. We leverage our massive 850,000+ community network and 11,000+ investors to create unique value for founders, sourcing and diligencing deals alongside top-tier VCs (a16z, Sequoia, Khosla) without leading rounds. Our network is our competitive advantage—it compounds value for all stakeholders. Manchester, NH | $250K – $5M | 58 | Follows | Active | ~2 wks | Open |
| 7 | ▶ K5 Global K5 Global backs category-defining companies from inception to IPO. The firm leverages exceptional networks across media, entertainment, politics, finance, and technology to provide strategic value beyond capital. We believe the best companies are built by founders who can access world-class talent, capital, and strategic relationships. Los Angeles | $1M – $3M | 34 | Leads | Active | ~1 mo | Open |
| 8 | ▶ Caffeinated Capital Support founders pursuing their life's work with an alternative to the hype cycle: the luxury of long-term thinking. We support founders building category-defining companies across all sectors that will last for lifetimes. San Francisco | $1M – $5M | 18 | Leads | Active | N/A | N/A |
| 9 | ▶ SpeedInvest Backs globally ambitious technology companies from pre-seed and seed through selected growth rounds using specialist EMEA sector teams and a platform model for capital, customers, talent, follow-on investors, and operational support. Vienna | $250K – $30M | 49 | Leads | Active | N/A | Open |
| 10 | ▶ Battery Ventures Battery Ventures operates as a stage-agnostic firm backing technology-driven category leaders across all growth stages from seed to buyout. The firm believes the best tech investments span the entire founder journey, and they practice collaborative, research-focused investing with embedded operational support through their Portfolio Services platform. They seek technical founders with deep domain expertise and experienced operators building in four core sectors: Application Software, Infrastructure Software, Consumer, and Industrial Tech + Life Science Tools. Boston | $1M – $500M | 23 | Both | Active | ~2 wks | Open |
| 11 | ▶ Redalpine Redalpine backs companies at the convergence of software and science — where rigorous engineering meets scientific breakthroughs. Half the team are scientists, half are operators, enabling them to engage deeply with highly technical founders and support them hands-on from day one through to exit. Primary focus areas: frontier science and biotech, digital health, AI and automation, fintech, synthetic biology, and climate tech. Zug | $500K – $5M | 40 | Leads | Active | N/A | N/A |
| 12 | ▶ Bessemer Venture Partners We partner with entrepreneurs from their early days through every stage of growth, focusing on innovative solutions in technology, healthcare, and financial services. Redwood City, California | $5.8M – $34.3M | 6 | N/A | 3mo | N/A | N/A |
| 13 | ▶ Gaingels Equity of access and representation in venture capital delivers positive returns. Diverse and underrepresented (including LGBTQ+) leaders of high-growth companies deserve capital access. When these founders succeed, they influence ecosystems and open doors for historically excluded groups. New York | $200K – $500K | 29 | Follows | Active | ~2 wks | Open |
| 14 | ▶ British Business Bank As the UK's state-owned economic development bank, British Business Bank exists to improve smaller and scaling businesses' access to finance and to support the transition to net zero, deploying public capital as a fund-of-funds, co-investor, and direct equity investor to fill gaps the private market leaves unfilled. Sheffield, UK | $12.5M – $50M | 7 | Both | Active | N/A | N/A |
Investors on this page also frequently invest in these sectors
What other stages do these firms also invest in?
What other sectors do these firms also invest in?
F4 Fund tracks 14 VC firms that actively invest in biotech & life sciences + aerospace & defense at the Growth stage. These firms are ranked using a composite score that weighs data completeness (30%), portfolio depth (30%), investment recency (25%), and stage alignment (15%).
Based on F4's analysis, the median check size for growth biotech & life sciences + aerospace & defense investors is $15.1M – $15.1M, with a full range from $200K – $500M. The distribution breaks down as: 1 firms in the <$500K range, 1 firms in the $1M-$2M range, 4 firms in the $2M-$5M range, 1 firms in the $5M-$10M range, 7 firms in the $10M+ range.
Among the 14 firms tracked, 71% lead or co-lead rounds, and 21% typically follow. Founders seeking a lead investor should filter for firms marked "Leads" or "Both" in the rankings table above. Lead investors typically set deal terms and anchor the round.
The best growth biotech & life sciences + aerospace & defense investors combine domain expertise with an active portfolio in the space. Among these firms, 30% prefer warm introductions, and the average firm has 43 portfolio companies. Look for firms whose check size matches your raise, whose stage preference aligns with yours, and who have a track record of supporting companies in your sector through multiple growth phases.
Firm profiles are continuously updated through F4's research pipeline, which combines LLM-powered web research, portfolio analysis, and transcript extraction. The ranking data refreshes every 12 hours. Editorial analysis is reviewed weekly. Individual firm profiles are re-researched on a 30-day cycle or when new information surfaces.