MRL Ventures Fund
Corporate VCCambridge · Pre-Seed–Series B · 5 people tracked
Investment thesis
MRLV is a science-first corporate venture fund investing in early-stage, preclinical therapeutics companies pursuing first- and best-in-class innovation with the potential to transform standards of care. It evaluates opportunities on the strength of underlying biology, quality of translational data, a clear path to human proof-of-concept, and the team's capabilities and syndicate alignment. MRLV focuses exclusively on therapeutics across all modalities — from small molecules to cell therapies — and explicitly excludes medical devices, diagnostics and digital health. It typically leads or co-leads with up to $25M per company from concept to IND, taking board or observer roles and offering access to MSD's scientific and business-development expertise without requiring product or technology rights.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 5 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 16 of 37 portfolio companiesBiotech ×16Healthtech ×6Medical Devices ×6Deep Tech ×3AI & Machine Learning ×2Digital Health ×1Longevity ×1
HQs:United States×12Australia×1
Investments · 37 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2025 · 12024 · 22015 · 14 dated
Aktis Oncology discovers and develops targeted radiopharmaceuticals for treating solid tumors.
BiotechHealthtechMedical DevicesBoston, US
Todd Foley(Co-founder and Chairman)Patrick Baeuerle(Co-founder & Advisor)Shulamit Ron-Bigger(Executive Officer)
BoardHelen S. Kim(Director)Oleg Nodelman(Director)Andrew Levin(Director)
Alector develops therapies targeting neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson's disease through protein removal, replacement, and immune cell restoration.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechHealthtechLongevityMedical DevicesSan Francisco, US
Arnon Rosenthal(Ph.D.)Carl Gordon(Director)Tillman Gerngross(Director)
BoardTerry McGuire(Director)
Intracellular delivery of biologics (NASDAQ: TRDA).
Antibodies to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 and related coronaviruses (NASDAQ: IVVD).
BiotechCambridge, US
Patrick Vink(Director)Milind Deshpande(Director)Jean-Francois Formela(Director)Casper Breum(Director)Ankit Mahadevia(Executive Officer, Director)Stephen Garbacz(Executive Officer)
Xilio (Xilio Therapeutics) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing tumor-selective immunotherapies, including checkpoint inhibitors, T cell engagers and related molecules, for the treatment of cancer.
BiotechHealthtechWaltham, US
Paul Clancy(Director)Daniel Curran(Director)Nancy Hong(Director)Rachel Humphrey(Director)Daniel Lynch(Director)Michael Ross(Director)
BiotechCambridge, US
Hui Tian(Executive Officer, Director)Madgalene Moran(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardBruce Bean(Director)James Jeffrey Goater, Jr.(Director)
Board seatKarin Kleinhans· per SEC Form D · $95M raise · filed Dec 2024
Structure-based small-molecule drug design targeting protein aggregation diseases.
BiotechThousand Oaks, US
Gary Wilcox(Director)James Treanor(Also a former CEO)John Frank(Director)Madhavan Balachandran(Executive Officer, Director)
Ambagon develops small molecule stabilizers of 14-3-3 protein complexes to modulate disease-related protein interactions, targeting therapeutic areas including cancer, metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases.
BiotechDeep TechMedical DevicesEindhoven, US
Christian Ottmann(Executive Officer)Josh Seidenfeld(Executive Officer)Michelle Arkin(Director)Nancy Pryer(Executive Officer)Margarita Chavez(Director)Bryan Miller(Executive Officer)
Systematically drugging the phosphatase target class with small molecules.
ATB Therapeutics develops targeted antibody therapies, including its "atbody" format, for hematological malignancies, autoimmune diseases, and solid tumors.
BiotechHealthtech
Restoring balance to disinhibited brain circuits to treat neurological disorders.
A pharmaceutical company that develops medicines and vaccines, with research, clinical trials, and a drug pipeline.
BiotechHealthtech
CAR-Macrophage cellular therapeutics with initial oncology focus (NASDAQ: CARM).
BiotechPhiladelphia, US
Steven Kelly(Executive Officer, Director)Margarita Chavez(Director)Eran Nadav(Director)Althea Stillman(Director)Jacob Gunterberg(Director)Regina Hodits(Director)
Global company developing next-generation eye disease therapies; acquired by Merck & Co.
Allosteric drug discovery unlocking on/off switches in proteins.
Epigenetic therapeutics for oncology; NASDAQ IMGO, acquired by Merck.
InduPro develops proximity-based therapeutics that manipulate spatial relationships of cell surface proteins to enable new disease treatments.
BiotechDeep TechMedical DevicesSeattle, US
Insamo develops an automated platform for drug discovery that designs, synthesizes, and tests cyclic peptides at scale using machine learning and proprietary experimental data.
AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechChippendale, AU
Tim Craven(CEO)Toby Passioura(CSO)Glen McIntyre(COO)TIMOTHY CRAVEN(Executive Officer, Director)TOBY PASSIOURA(Executive Officer, Director)GLEN MCINTYRE(Executive Officer, Director)
Next-generation targeted protein degraders (NASDAQ: KYMR).
Leveraging fungal biology to find novel chemical matter for intractable targets.
Mozart Therapeutics develops protein therapeutics focused on immunology and oncology treatments.
BiotechMedical Devices
Mark Davis(Scientific Co-Founder)K. Christopher Garcia(Scientific Co-Founder)Calvin Kuo(Scientific Co-Founder)Katie Fanning(President & Chief Executive Officer)
MSD is a pharmaceutical company that researches and develops medicines and vaccines.
BiotechHealthtech
RNA-based medicines for genetic heart disease.
Developing novel KRAS degraders.
Bifunctional small molecules for control of post-translational modifications.
Restoring vision through optogenetics.
BiotechSan Francisco, US
Dmitry Kuzmin(Director)Sean Ainsworth(Executive Officer, Director)Raymond Camahort(Director)Hannah Chang(Director)Gary Abrams(Director)Paul Bresge(Executive Officer, Director)
Immunomodulating polynucleotides for cancer.
Burlingame, US
In situ gene therapy immune reprogramming; acquired by Sanofi.
Transmembrane protein drug discovery.
RNA therapeutics; NASDAQ TBIO, acquired by Sanofi.
Vectorized antibodies for neurodegenerative diseases.
Viridian Therapeutics develops treatments for thyroid eye disease, a rare autoimmune condition affecting the eyes and orbit.
BiotechDigital HealthMedical DevicesWaltham, US
Jonathan Violin(Executive Officer, Director)Peter Harwin(Director)Tomas Kiselak(Director)
Hierotope platform for precision biologics; acquired by Otsuka.
Rows marked “SEC filing” are inferred from directors named on the company's SEC Form D — public regulatory data, not a portfolio list published by the firm.
Exits · 12
IPOs and acquisitions across the tracked portfolioAktis OncologyNASDAQ: AKTSAlectorNASDAQ: ALECEntrada TherapeuticsNASDAQ: TRDAInvivydNASDAQ: IVVDSpero TherapeuticsNASDAQ: SPROXilio TherapeuticsNASDAQ: XLOCarawayacq. by MerckEyeBioacq. by MerckImago Biosciencesacq. by MerckTidal Therapeuticsacq. by SanofiTranslate Bioacq. by SanofiVisterraacq. by Otsuka
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companiesAlector · dailypolitical.com · Jul 17, 2026
Aktis Oncology · globenewswire.com · Mar 30, 2026
Mozart Therapeutics · nasdaqprivatemarket.com · Jun 27, 2025
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does MRL Ventures Fund invest at?
- MRL Ventures Fund invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B stages.
- What is MRL Ventures Fund's typical check size?
- MRL Ventures Fund typically writes checks of $25M.
- What sectors does MRL Ventures Fund focus on?
- MRL Ventures Fund focuses on Biotech, Healthtech, Medical Devices.
- Where is MRL Ventures Fund located?
- MRL Ventures Fund is headquartered in Cambridge, US.
- Does MRL Ventures Fund lead rounds?
- Yes, MRL Ventures Fund leads investment rounds.
Co-investors · 2
RA Capital invests in public and private healthcare and life science companies developing pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostic tools. The firm operates as a crossover fund across multiple investment stages.
MPM BioImpact combines 30+ years of biotech venture capital expertise with impact investing and public market experience, managing early-stage venture funds, private/public impact funds, and a public equities fund focused on transforming patient outcomes.
Firms observed investing alongside MRL Ventures Fund, from public investor directories. Shared companies are the overlap with MRL Ventures Fund's recorded portfolio.
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