Google Ventures is going to start off 2016 with $2.4 billion under management. This year, life sciences and health remained the most active area of investment, according to a blog post by Bill Maris, president and CEO of the venture arm of the parent entity Alphabet. GV reportedly has $300 million to invest annually in the U.S. and much of that money will probably be poured into life sciences and health startups again, given Maris' commitment to focus on such investments in the new year and beyond.
Below is a slideshow of the life sciences startups GV has invested in so far in 2015, starting with the most recent in November, based on tweets from by GV.
Name: TinyRx
Location: San Francisco
What it Does: Same day, on demand prescription delivery service, currently serving San Francisco, Berkely and Oakland. The startup offers a tantalizing promise for consumers using the service to get prescriptions delivered to their doorstep - "Pay your usual copay or less, guaranteed."
GV Participation: Investor in $5 million in seed funding
GV Investor: Blake Byers
Name: PatientPing
Location: Boston
What it Does: Provides real-time notifications or "pings" to providers when patients receive care across the care continuum inside the PatientPing network. Currently there are more than 11,000 providers in the network in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
The hope is that the pings will deliver better care coordination, which can ultimately lead to better outcomes.
GV Participation: Co-lead investor in $8 million Series A round
GV Investor: Krishna Yeshwant
Name: Collective Health
Location: San Mateo, California
What it Does: Software and services company that uses to data to modernize employer-based health insurance and combines medical, dental pharmacy and vision benefits in one platform. Insurance companies can quickly and accurately process claims and manage claims adjudications. For employees, the company has created a dashboard to empower them to understand their various healthcare options and see claims while providing mobile tools with which they can use to access care any where.
GV Participation: New investor in $81 million Series C round.
GV Investor: Blake Byers
Name: Alector
Location: San Francisco, as part of QB3 Incubator
What it Does: Developing immuno-modulatory therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders.
GV Participation: New investor in $32 million Series C round.
GV Investor: Blake Byers
Name: Zephyr Health
Location: San Francisco
What it Does: Developed the Illuminate data analytics software solution to accelerate time to market for drugs, devices and diagnostics.
GV Participation: New investor in $17.5 million Series C round.
GV Investor: Blake Byers
Name: Editas Medicine
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
What it Does: Uses genome editing, which allows sequence-targeted modification of DNA to potentially switch off or modify disease-creating genes to create new class of genomic medicine.
GV Participation: New investor in $120 million Series B round.
GV Investor: Krishna Yeshwant
Name: Spruce
Location: San Francisco
What it Does: Developed the Spruce dermatology app through which skin conditions can be diagnosed and treated by a board certified dermatologists in 24 hours for a price of $40. Consumers in 17 states including California, Florida and Illinois can download the app, create an account and answer questions on medical history to avail of this service. Patients can securely message their dermatologist for 30 days following the visit.
GV Participation: Investor in $15 million Series A round.
GV Investor: Krishna Yeshwant