Member Spotlight: Atlas Venture
For this deep dive, we spoke to Michael Gladstone, Partner of Atlas Venture.
Tell us about your firm. What makes it different:
Atlas Venture is a biotech-focused venture creation firm – meaning we help build the companies we invest in. We invest solely in innovative therapeutics, and we work closely with Entrepreneurs-in-Residence to source, vet, and build new companies. We dedicate much of our office space to incubating new companies in our portfolio, allowing our entrepreneurs to access one another and the Atlas investment team in a way that promotes collaboration.
What defines your portfolio?
Our portfolio is defined first and foremost by the mission of patient impact. We seek out world class science that can be harnessed to develop novel medicines and address critical unmet medical needs across all disease areas. We also customize our company-building approach for each company, applying the right business model and capital formation plan for each opportunity. To do this, we work closely with entrepreneurs and leaders who share in the goal of bringing new medicines to patients.
Tell us about the current VC landscape in your geography/region.
The Boston/Cambridge ecosystem is ripe for biotech company creation. There are world-class academic research and medical institutions and the world’s densest ecosystem of biotech talent, due to Massachusetts’ long history as a biotech/pharma hub. We co-exist with local biotech investors across the investment spectrum and partner with like-minded investors.
What are the benefits of being an NVCA member?
The NVCA provides important connectivity and opportunities for the venture industry. From offering VC University to advocating on behalf of the venture community and our collective mission, the NVCA is working to make the industry more accessible and effective.
What’s ahead for your firm in 2023?
More of the same: we will continue to create, build, and support promising new biotech companies by partnering with talented entrepreneurs who share our commitment to bringing new medicines to patients.
