Investor Profile: Osage University Partners — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

For researchers turning lab work into a company, Osage University Partners funding is one of the most specialised routes in American venture capital. The firm, known as OUP, invests exclusively in startups commercialising university research, and it shares part of its profits with its partner institutions. If you are asking how to get funding from Osage University Partners, the honest answer starts inside your university, not with a cold pitch.

Investment thesis

Osage University Partners believes universities are an unparalleled engine for disruptive startups. Rather than competing for every deal in the market, it partners with research institutions, takes assignment of their co-investment rights in spinouts, and backs the resulting companies.

Sectors and stages

The firm invests across all sectors of university commercialisation. In technology that means software, hardware and climate tech; in life sciences it means therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and research tools. It invests at all stages, from pre-seed through crossover, so it can back a spinout at formation and keep supporting it as it grows towards the public markets.

Fund size and cheque size

Osage University Partners manages over $800 million and has invested in more than 150 life science and technology startups, according to its own site. Its stated investment size is $1 million to $20 million. Earlier funds show the scale: OUP II closed oversubscribed at $215 million, and OUP III raised $273 million with an expectation of investing in about 40 to 50 university startups.

Notable portfolio

• Hyalex Orthopaedics — medical device startup licensing technology from Stanford.
• DiCE Molecules — therapeutics startup licensing technology from Stanford.
• Graphite Bio — therapeutics startup licensing technology from Stanford.
• Receptos, Aerie, Otonomy, Immune Design and AGTC — early exits from the firm's first fund.
• Penn-BioNTech Innovative Therapeutics Seed Fund — a $50 million seed and Series A vehicle run with the University of Pennsylvania and BioNTech for Penn therapeutics, diagnostics, digital platforms and research tools.

Partners and team

Osage University Partners was founded in 2009 and is based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Its managing partners for its third fund were Marc Singer, William Harrington, a medical doctor, and Robert Adelson, each with more than twenty years of venture experience, alongside founding partner Louis Berneman, a recognised voice in university technology transfer.

Programs run, credits and perks

Osage University Partners runs a distinctive support package for the academic world. Its Office Hours give faculty, graduate and postdoctoral researchers and spinouts informal access to its investment teams. Its Venture Education Seminars and webinars cover topics from the venture investment decision process to founder equity and chief executive assessment, and its Academic Partner Portal gives partner researchers curated resources for technology-based startups. No standard cloud credits package is published.

How to apply for funding

There is no open public pitch form for unaffiliated startups, because the model runs through partner institutions. Researchers should start with their university's technology transfer office, which holds the relationship with OUP, or sign up for OUP Office Hours. Founders spinning out of a partner university should be ready to explain the licensed intellectual property, the unmet need and the team that can carry the science into a company.