Venture Capital · Profile from Venture Capital Research Companion
Atlas Venture
A Dutch-born, transatlantic multi-stage venture firm that shrank and reinvented itself after the dot-com bust as Cambridge, Massachusetts' archetypal "seed-led" biotech company creator — small funds, in-house incubation, and a habit of selling companies early to pharma at attractive multiples.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1980, Amsterdam, as a venture subsidiary of NMB Bank (later part of ING Group); Boston office opened 1986
- Founders
- Michiel de Haan is usually credited as founder; Christopher Spray founded and led the U.S. (Boston) operation from 1986 (sources differ on attribution)
- Headquarters
- Cambridge, MA (Kendall Square); historically also offices in Amsterdam, London, Munich, Paris and Geneva
- Ownership / structure
- Independent private partnership (separated from its bank parent in the 1990s, verify date); tech team spun out as Accomplice after 2014
- Leadership (2026)
- Partnership led by Bruce Booth, Jean-François Formela, Kevin Bitterman, Jason Rhodes, David Grayzel and Michael Gladstone, among others (verify current roster)
- AUM / capital raised
- Biotech-era funds alone: ~$3.2bn+ committed since 2015 (Funds X–XIV plus Opportunity Funds I–III, reported); cumulative since 1980 several billion more
- Stage focus
- Seed and Series A company creation in early-stage biotech; opportunity funds for later rounds of portfolio companies
- Signature investments
- Avila (sold to Celgene), Nimbus (Gilead and Takeda deals), Intellia, Translate Bio (sold to Sanofi), Kymera, Dyne, Padlock (sold to BMS), Disarm (sold to Lilly); disappointments: Synlogic, Surface Oncology; the 2000s transatlantic tech portfolio
10 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2007
Avila Therapeutics
Series A
2009
Nimbus Therapeutics
Seed / Company Creation
2011
Translate Bio
Seed / Company Creation
2014
Intellia Therapeutics
Series A
2014
Padlock Therapeutics
Seed / Series A
2014
Surface Oncology
Series A
2014
Synlogic
Seed / Series A
2016
Disarm Therapeutics
Seed / Series A
2016
Kymera Therapeutics
Seed / Series A
2019
Dyne Therapeutics
Series A