Investor Profile: Foresite Capital — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Founders researching Foresite Capital funding are looking at a data-obsessed, multi-stage healthcare investor. Founded in 2011 by Jim Tananbaum, Foresite funds promising healthcare and life-sciences businesses "at all stages of their life cycles", using a data science-driven approach aimed at companies where biology meets big data. With more than $3.5 billion in assets under management and a $900 million sixth fund closed in 2024, it is one of the most active healthcare investors in the US.

Thesis and focus areas

Foresite's thesis is breakthrough opportunities at the intersection of technology and biotechnology, pursued through a deeply technical, thesis-driven investment process. The firm targets areas of great unmet medical need, backing companies that leverage biology and big data to transform healthcare — spanning therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and digital health. Its edge, in its own telling, is a systematic process for identifying the undercurrents driving change, plus in-house expertise in company formation, therapeutics product development and data science/machine learning that it deploys into portfolio companies.

Cheque size and stage

Foresite is explicitly multi-stage, so it writes cheques from early venture through growth — no single standard range is published. The fund history shows the scaling ambition: Foresite Capital Fund I ($100 million, 2013), Fund II ($300 million, 2014), Fund III ($450 million, 2015), Fund IV ($668 million, 2018), Fund V ($776 million, 2021), Foresite Labs Fund I ($173 million, 2022) and Fund VI ($900 million, 2024). The firm's track record claims more than 47 IPOs, 28 mergers and acquisitions and 58 FDA drug approvals.

Notable portfolio

Foresite's portfolio includes 10x Genomics, Eikon Therapeutics, MyoKardia, Relay Therapeutics, Insitro, Karyopharm, Immunomedics, Epizyme, Biohaven, HealthVerity, Latigo Biotherapeutics, Candid, Theseus Pharmaceuticals and XinThera — a mix of platform biotech, precision medicine and data-driven health companies.

Team

Foresite was founded in 2011 by Jim Tananbaum, who serves as CEO. The firm employs a team of around 54 investment and operating professionals across its San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York City offices.

How to apply for funding

Foresite does not publish a public pitch-submission form. Founders should approach through the contact route on the firm's website (foresitecapital.com) or via warm introductions — the firm's data-driven sourcing means it often finds companies itself, so visibility in the healthcare ecosystem helps. Cold outreach works best when it leads with the data: the biology, the unmet need and the evidence.