Video: The IndieBio Experience (2021)
Skip the accelerators
Inflect with seasoned VCs
Over 200+ companies were born and built with IndieBio.
We’ve continued to work and learn alongside our companies as they grow. This arms us with expertise and experience to give our early stage startups Growth-level diligence training at Pre-Seed.
In 2021 alone, we deployed over $50 million in initial and follow-on investments with top-tier investors. We know how VCs think, because we are VCs.
Now accepting applications
See the latest NY and SF batches below.
Build with us
Founder-led biotech: A history lesson
IndieBio built the bandwagon.
In 2014, no VC would have invested in an undergrad or grad student with a wild idea to use biology to disrupt markets outside of healthcare. We were the first VC to put a $2 million biotech lab in their office. We built the first program to systematically write small checks into those radical ideas, including what we now know as “climate tech“.
WIRED called us ‘weird’. VICE called it ‘biohacking’. But when we made it big (e.g., Upside Foods and Mycoworks), “success brought competiton”, details Bloomberg.
We were first, and we keep getting better.
No curriculum. No Box-Checking.
We are not an assembly line. You are not a widget. We will not “scale”. Your success is our only business model.
Fact: We could make more money with bigger cohorts and charging more fees. But we don’t, because it dilutes our high-value, high-touch approach.
You don’t get 1:1 mentoring–you get 5 partners on your meetings. It can be every day (if you want), not every other Friday. In our office, there are literally no walls between your desk and ours. These rapid touch points speed up your iteration cycles that are critical to your evolution as a successful startup. You get 24/7 direct access to the team that helped build so many iconic companies over the years.
When we’re not talking directly to you, we’re either talking to each other about you, or to investors about you. We are your second brain, sketching scenarios, drawing on whiteboards, and brainstorming while walking our dogs.
IndieBio NY
IndieBio SF
Join in New York
or San Francisco
Or stay virtual.
The pandemic changed the game.
We have expanded the spectrum of how we work with nascent startups, in several ways.
First, we can start funding you and working with you earlier, long before you’re ready to be in the intensive program. We’ve done this up to 9 months in advance. So even if you haven’t graduated yet, or haven’t yet gone full-time on the startup, we recommend you still apply.
Second, we can work with companies anywhere on the planet. We recommend visiting, at some point, but if you have a facility or a field site – or maybe a local government subsidy that requires you to stay there – we can support you remotely.
Our Alumni are
Our Greatest Asset
All new startups get the benefit of a trusted community with 199 alumni who are happy to share their wisdom.
Going through IndieBio is an incredible bonding experience. We teach a philosophy and mindset that is uniquely ours. You’ll become emotionally and intellectually attached to your fellow batch mates. You’ll remember them the rest of your life.
This deep connection informs the next years to come. IndieBio is our startups’ birthplace. Everyone visits home. Every generation of startups gets the benefit of alumni help, and then they repay the favor to the new batch.
First, we can start funding you and working with you earlier, long before you’re ready to be in the intensive program. We’ve done this up to 9 months in advance. So even if you haven’t graduated yet, or haven’t yet gone full-time on the startup, we recommend you still apply.
We Believe in Diversity
44% female. First, second, and third time founders. 40 nationalities. Post-docs and ex-corporates. Ages 21 to 75.
Diversity is a core thesis for IndieBio. We find talent that many others overlook. Some of the greatest companies of tomorrow are hiding in plain sight, today, right now. It’s just that nobody listens long and hard enough to recognize the brilliance and the potential.
If other investors have told you that you’re “too early,” well, that’s our sweet spot. We’ve funded paper plans, where no science has been done yet–and created hugely successful companies that way.
Perhaps the greatest endorsement is how many alumni have returned to IndieBio to create their second company.
Choose SOSV as your Partner
IndieBio’s parent is SOSV, which has $1.5 billion in assets under management and is consistently ranked as a top deep tech investor in climate and health.
SOSV focused on deep tech investments in human and planetary health, starting at pre-seed, and operates the our IndieBio locations in New York and San Francisco as well the HAX hard tech startup program in Newark, NJ.
The firm was founded by Sean O’Sullivan, who is a serial entrepreneur and a philanthropist as well as the managing general partner.
Partners for the Long-term
The journey begins with $525,000 and our intense program. But we continue to invest meaningfully in every round. 80% of our capital is deployed post-program.
at the start
by IndieBio
We recommend choosing your investors wisely. We offer the biggest checks in the pre-seed stage, but that’s just the beginning. SOSV, our venture fund, is spread around the globe and manages $1.4 billion (as of September 16, 2022). We target a long-term ownership of around 10%, and we continue to invest at Seed through Series C. We are a long-term partner, not just a first-check accelerator.
At IndieBio, we are in touch with thousands of investors, and we have co-invested with well over 400 firms. The SOSV network is even greater.
How to Apply
- Apply online, and someone from our team will read your application shortly to see if we’re a good fit.
- If we’re interested in learning more, we’ll reach out for an interview (or more, if we really like you and your idea).
- After we’ve determined that your idea is revolutionary and game-changing, we’ll send an offer to join our next cohort.
Superstars & Winners
Our top companies are unicorns and global leaders, recognized by consumers industrial partners alike.