Welcome back to the PsyMed Ventures newsletter! 👋
We’re excited to share an update about Fund I, new frontiers we’re exploring, the latest Business Trip episodes, and more.
Fund I Update
Psychedelics and neurotech have been the largest themes of PsyMed Ventures Fund I. We have 7 investments in these areas, with a focus on drug development (Delix, Freedom Bio), infrastructure (e.g. Journey Clinical), and medical devices (e.g. Motif). These markets are starting to take off, buoyed by strong clinical readouts, regulatory openness, media attention, and the ability of these modalities to modify disease states (not just manage symptoms). Over $1B was invested in psychedelic medicine and neurotech last year (neurotech was the largest VC-backed category in MedTech in 2023). While we’ll likely make more investments in these areas, they are becoming consensus, which makes it the perfect time to invest in new frontiers within brain and mental health.
The latest investments in our portfolio tell this story: microbiome therapeutics (Bloom Science, Ancilia), continue hormone monitoring, AI-assisted therapy (Jimini Health), and our newest investments in a live audio platform for peer support (Humans Anonymous) and digital molecules (Remepy). In some instances, startups start in a disease area outside mental health to validate their platform, with a plan to address mental health further down the road. This is the case with Ancilia. If we waited until they got to a mental health indication, it would be too late for us to participate.
PsyMed’s focus has expanded in one additional way: advances in neuroscience have blurred the boundaries between psychiatry and neurology. For example, inflammation is a hallmark (sometimes a trigger) of depression (psychiatry), Alzheimer’s, and Dementia (neurology). Therefore, targeting inflammation could treat a wide range of disease states. To put it more broadly, human biology is more interconnected than what was once believed. A therapeutic targeting the gut may heal the brain.
PsyMed’s mission remains the same: to fund the most impactful technologies and breakthroughs in mental & brain health. From a portfolio construction perspective, our approach offers diversification regarding market timing and regulatory dynamics. Our biggest learning is that the gravity and multifaceted nature of the mental health crisis require solutions that will need to come in many shapes and sizes.
PsyMed Fund 1 - Portfolio Update
Here’s a roundup of our Fund 1 portfolio investments. See our previous investments on our website.
(sorted in alphabetical order, not by favorites 🙃)
Ancilia Biosciences: CRISPR for live biotherapeutics and bacterial products
Bloom Sciences: Microbiome therapeutics platform for neurological disease
Delix Therapeutics: Drug development platform for neuroplastogens
Freedom Biosciences: Drug development platform for next generation ketamine & psychedelic therapeutics
Humans Anonymous: Anonymous audio spaces for mental health
Jimini Health: AI-assisted teletherapy
Journey Clinical: Empowering psychotherapists to offer psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Motif: Minimally invasive bioelectronic solutions for brain and mental health.
Remepy: Pioneering hybrid drugs combining traditional drugs with digital therapeutics
Stealth Company: Non-invasive treatment for mental health
Stealth Company: Transcranial-electric stimulation for mental health
Stealth Company: Marketplace for transformative mental health modalities
Stealth Company: Continuous hormone monitoring
Frontiers We’re Exploring
Preventative medicine: From first principles, it seems odd that our healthcare system is set up to treat people once they’re sick. We believe it makes more sense to offer proactive ways of staying healthy. This could be from wearables (glucose, hormones), bloodwork testing for healthy individuals (Function Health, Bionic Health), or to forecast neurodegeneration. We believe there is a massive opportunity for companies that enable early detection of disease or mental illness.
Other frontiers: Neurotech + X, ADHD tech stack, brain organoids in drug development
PsyMed Ventures in the World
February 2024: Greg chatting with Zach Haigney on The Trip Report podcast, discussing the varieties of mental health innovation.
March 2024: Matias at SXSW on a panel about "Investing in New Frontiers of Health: AI, Psychedelics, the Gut-Brain Axis, and More". Listen to the episode here.
April 2024: Greg at the 2024 Bioelectronic Medicine Forum discussing “Investment in Bioelectronic Medicine”.
April 2024: Caitlin at the California Neurotech Conference at UC-Davis exploring neurotech applications in mental health.
April 2024: Greg at Harvard Business School participating in a panel about psychedelic industry.
Business Trip
Investing in New Frontiers of Mental Health (Live Panel at SXSW): Matias joins Amy Kruse of Satori Capital and co-hosts Dan Blumberg of Modern Product Minds and Christie Nicholson of Studio for Communicating Complexity to discuss all things investing in frontier mental health.
Comparing Psychedelic Compounds in Therapy (Live Panel at the Battery SF): Nolan Williams, Allison Fedducia, Matt Baggot, and Matias discuss the effects, mechanisms, and therapeutic potential of psychedelics.
What Payers Want with Lili Brillstein: Lili Brillstein (ex-Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield) discusses how startups can work collaboratively with healthcare payers.
Decoding the Brain with Ed Boyden: Ed Boyden, a pioneer in brain research pioneer and MIT professor, discusses the evaluation of new technologies, commercializing neurotech, and effective science communication.
5-MeO-DMT in mental healthcare with Steve Rio: Steve Rio discusses 5-MeO-DMT's unique psychedelic effects, his retreat’s protocol, challenges of high doses in traditional medicine, and future research directions.
Upcoming Events:
We’ll be participating in a bunch of brain and mental health events this summer – we hope to see some of you:
June 3, 2024: NY Tech Week: Brooklyn Founders & Funders
June 3-6, 2024: Bio International Convention
June 2-15, 2024: Edge Esmeralda
July 12-14, 2024: FUN23 | Radiological Sciences Laboratory (RSL) | Stanford Medicine
Thanks for reading :) If you're building a transformational technology company in brain and mental health, please reach out at hi@psymed.ventures.
Best,
The PsyMed Team
Love the continuity of mission while expanding the focus! Mental and physical health are connected in ways that we're just beginning to understand.