CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OMX Ventures, a new life sciences venture capital firm focused on investing in companies that operate at the intersection of biology, big data, and engineering, announced that Jamie Kasuboski, Ph.D. has joined the OMX team of investment professionals as Vice President. Dr. Kasuboski was previously a venture investor at RA Capital. The company has also announced that Kevin Ness, Ph.D., serial life sciences tools entrepreneur and major investor in OMX Ventures Fund I, has joined the firm’s roster of advisors.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jamie and Kevin to the OMX Ventures team to support our ongoing investment and company building activities,” said Craig Asher, OMX Ventures Managing Director. “OMX Ventures Fund I, which raised $150 million in committed capital, is targeting investments in early-stage companies focused on foundational research tools and instruments, therapeutic development platforms, and synthetic biology companies. Jamie comes on board as a new investment team member to expand our capabilities as we anticipate raising our second fund later this year. We also look forward to working with Kevin again as an advisor to our firm and benefiting from his extensive expertise in the life sciences tools space.”
“I have worked with the OMX team members in all of my previous companies, and I know first-hand the unique value and insight they bring to a start-up company and its team. With OMX Ventures, I know they are building a very special new venture fund, and I am excited to be part of this journey with them,” said Dr. Ness.
The OMX Ventures Fund I was enthusiastically oversubscribed by investors, and OMX Ventures has been actively investing in new companies, closing 16 deals thus far with companies including Matterworks (next generation metabolomics), Inscripta (synthetic biology tools), TARA Biosystems (cardiac-focused drug discovery), Mythic Therapeutics (antibody engineering company), Compass Pathways (novel drug therapies for depression), and more.
“I am excited to join this elite group of successful investors and become part of a team focused on identifying and supporting companies on the cutting edge of a new biological revolution,” said Dr. Kasuboski. “OMX has built a strong base of both investors and portfolio companies, and I am looking forward to helping expand OMX’s capabilities as we continue to invest in and create new companies.”
About Jamie Kasuboski
Jamie is Vice President at OMX Ventures. Jamie previously focused on early-stage biotech investing and company creation while at RA Capital and served on the board of Enara bio, Avilar Therapeutics and Endor Therapeutics. Before joining RA, he was a Director at Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and served as a Board Director of both Tilos Therapeutics (acquired by Merck & Co.) and Rewind Therapeutics. He holds a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Hillsdale College and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Notre Dame.
About Kevin Ness
Kevin Ness has made a highly successful career of building best-in-class tools for biologists and successful commercial ventures that advance genome writing and reading, and the single-cell sciences. Recently, he was Chief Executive Officer of Inscripta, and previously a co-founder of both 10X Genomics (single-molecule and single-cell sequencing technologies; NASDAQ: TXG) and QuantaLife (droplet digital PCR technology; acquired by BioRad).
About OMX Ventures (pronounced “omics”):
OMX Ventures is a U.S. venture capital investment firm focused on investing in a new era of bioengineering and its application for better tools, medicines, foods, industrial products, and more. We are centered at the intersection of biology, big data, and engineering, with focused interest in life sciences tools, instruments, therapeutics, and synthetic biology. The firm was founded in 2020 by partners who have co-invested and built successful companies together in these fields for nearly a decade.
OMX Ventures first fund, OMX Ventures Fund I, has raised more than $150 million in committed capital, which will be invested in primarily Seed and Series A investments.
Our strategy is to invest early, planting the seeds for successful company growth; to build conviction and ownership in the most promising leaders through subsequent investment; and to advise and guide portfolio companies throughout their corporate life cycle. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.omx.vc. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
