10 November 2017Americas

LSIPR 50 2017: Robert Nelsen

Name: Robert Nelsen

Organisation: Arch Venture Partners

Position: Partner

In 2016, Robert Nelsen was placed number 16 on US business magazine Forbes’ ‘Midas List’ of the top 100 venture capital investors in technology.

"Nelsen played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing and development of more than 30 companies."

The list included venture capitalists who had notable deals with technology companies such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Nelsen is the co-founder and managing director of Arch Venture Partners’ Seattle office.

At Arch, Nelsen played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing and development of more than 30 companies, 19 of which have valuations that have exceeded $1 billion.

His investments have focused on biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, such as Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Juno Therapeutics, Vir Biotechnology, Sage Therapeutics and Editas.

It was Nelsen’s deal with Juno which placed him at number 16 on the ‘Midas List’.

“The biggest dreamer in biotech investing is also the best-performing healthcare investor on our list, during a time when healthcare investors did great,” Forbes explained.

Forbes added that Nelsen was an initial investor in Illumina, which now has a $24 billion market capitalisation.

Another success, Forbes said, was Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, which invented a drug called Kybella (deoxycholic acid), a treatment for double chins.

Kythera was sold to pharmaceutical company Allergan for $2.1 billion in June 2015.

In 2015, Denali Therapeutics launched with an initial investment commitment of $217 million to tackle neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Nelsen, a Denali board member, said at the time: “Denali brings together independent experts in the industry, united in our dedication to successfully tackling this critical need.

“We recognise that the time is right for a serious, joint effort to effectively develop new therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases.”