July 2023
ST. LOUIS, MO (July 21, 2023) – From the St. Louis Business Journal, Beyond the List: St. Louis area’s largest venture capital firms report managing $9B in capital.
“Our newest List ranks the largest venture capital and private equity firms in the St. Louis region by their total capital under management… We spoke with Niall O’Donnell, one of the managing directors at Clayton-based venture capital firm RiverVest Venture Partners, to hear more about the [venture capital] industry.”
In the article, Niall shared his perspective on the state of biotech venture capital in 2023.
Here are three key takeaways:
1) I think companies have switched back to the original model of venture capital, which is conservative cash preservation — don’t expect to go public, keep the companies private. This change is probably a healthy thing.
2) The number of public biotechs rapidly tripled in the last ten years. About 18 months ago, there was a massive correction in the market. I think everyone woke up one morning in the first quarter of 2022 on the public side and realized there’s an overabundance of public companies, and many companies lost 50% to 75% of their stock price.
3) Regardless of what happens in the overall global economy, there’s usually sufficient venture capital dollars. What we really need is an ecosystem with people who are willing to step up to the plate, become a CEO, become a chief medical officer, and take that ride with us. Having really good operators and executors prepared to take that risk is the lifeblood of what we do.
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