H Venture Partners Launches Venture Studio to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance and Climate Change

H Venture Partners Launches Venture Studio to Tackle Antibiotic Resistance and Climate Change
Image credit: H-L website

H Venture Partners has announced the launch of a venture studio focused on developing microbiome technologies and materials that can be commercialized into startups. The firm plans to attract talent to address health issues such as depression, cancer, eczema, and neurodegenerative diseases. This initiative is partly funded by H Partner’s Fund II, which recently received a $10 million investment from the State of Ohio, bringing its total to $24 million.

Elizabeth Edwards, founder and managing partner of H Ventures 
Image credit: Medium website

The venture studio will focus on combating antibiotic resistance, reversing climate change, and eliminating petrol-based plastics. Elizabeth Edwards, the firm’s founder and managing partner, stated that these are the top two threats to humanity. H Venture Partners aims to invest in at least 13 early-stage companies, with individual investments ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. The firm’s portfolio includes companies like Felix Health and Parsley Health, and it manages over $40 million in assets.

Edwards founded H Venture Partners in 2017, and the firm remains female-founded, owned, and operated. It focuses on supporting marginalized founders, with over 90% of its portfolio investments going to women and people of color. This effort aligns with the broader goal of increasing diversity in the biological sciences sector, where less than 2% of all venture funding goes to such groups.

The firm’s commitment to inclusion is underscored by recent data showing that companies with at least one woman founder have raised more than $2 billion in funding in the pharma and bio sector, according to Pitchbook. Last year alone, these groups raised $5.4 billion of the $18.4 billion invested in the sector.

“If you think that investing in women is a bad idea, you’re missing half of the best opportunities in the world,” Edwards said, emphasizing the firm’s belief in “excellence through inclusion.”