Pillar VC recently announced its $175 million Fund IV, bringing the firm’s total assets under management to more than $500 million. And Pillar VC is also introducing three new Venture Partners, and four new Founding Pillars, a group of CEOs who have built highly successful companies; they are co-owners of the firm, and serve as strategic advisors to Pillar VC and its portfolio companies.
More than half of Pillar VC’s investments are in companies that emerged from university research labs. Over the past eight years, the firm’s early-stage investments in scientific breakthroughs in AI, computing, biology, materials, manufacturing, and healthcare have grown into industry-leading companies.
Some examples of these investments include:
1.) Abridge – Founded by a practicing cardiologist from UPMC and a research professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Abridge is the most advanced AI platform for clinical conversations that is today trusted by the largest enterprise healthcare systems.
2.) Algorand – A team of leading MIT cryptographers founded Algorand as a high-performance Layer-1 blockchain.
3.) Asimov – Founded by bioengineers from MIT and Boston University, Asimov is a synthetic biology company that advances the design and manufacturing of therapeutics.
4.) Neural Magic – A MIT spinout, Neural Magic pioneered software and algorithms that accelerate generative AI (gen AI) inference workloads. The company was recently acquired by Red Hat.
Along with making seed-stage investments, Pillar VC will continue to host programs and initiatives that catalyze scientific founders, such as:
1.) Encode: AI for Science Fellowship – Established by Pillar VC with the support of the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA), the Fellowship will place top AI talent in leading UK science labs.
2.) $1M Moonshot Competition – Open to current university undergrad and grad students, postdocs, and faculty, the $1M Moonshot Competition supports the most transformative ideas in university research labs, MBA programs, and undergraduate dorm rooms.
3.) Founder Led Bio Tour – A series of summits in NYC, Boston, SF and London that convene innovative biotech leaders, scientists, executives and investors from around the world.
4.) Co-founder Match Community – A highly curated community designed to connect ambitious business leaders with top engineers and researchers.
5.) Frequency – A one-week, flexible program for aspiring entrepreneurs to help explore launching a startup.
With Fund IV, Pillar VC is introducing a range of new leaders at the firm, including:
1.) Shiv Rao, MD, Founding Pillar – Rao is the Founder and CEO of Abridge, and is a practicing cardiologist at UPMC. He previously led the provider-facing investment portfolio for UPMC, where he invested in startups, and also helped fund a Machine Learning in Health program at Carnegie Mellon University. Recently, Rao was recognized as one of the TIME100 AI leaders.
2.) Mike Salguero, Founding Pillar – Salguero is the founder and CEO of ButcherBox, a sustainably-sourced meat subscription company. Salguero started ButcherBox with $10,000 of personal funds and a Kickstarter campaign, and has grown the business to more than $500 million in annual revenue. Salguero has been recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.
3.) Doug Williams, Ph.D., Founding Pillar – Williams previously served as the President of Research and Development at Sana Biotechnology, CEO of Codiak BioSciences, and EVP of Research and Development at Biogen. Before Biogen, he was CEO at ZymoGenetics and led its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb. He has also held various leadership positions, including Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Seattle Genetics (acquired by Pfizer in 2023).
4.) Mike Massaro, Founding Pillar – As Chief Executive Officer of payments platform Flywire, Massaro has grown the business from a concept into a global company. His background spans global payments, mobile software and hardware, and e-billing at high growth technology companies, including Carrier IQ and edocs, Inc. Massaro was also the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Financial Services.
5.) Dave Husak, Venture Partner – Husak was the co-founder of Plexxi, a specialist in software-defined data center solutions that was acquired by HP. Prior to Plexxi, Husak founded C-Port Corporation, a manufacturer of programmable network processors. The company was acquired by Motorola.
6.) Jake Becraft, Ph.D., Venture Partner – Becraft is a synthetic biologist and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Strand Therapeutics and serves on its Board of Directors. Together with colleagues at MIT’s renowned Synthetic Biology Center, he led the development of the world’s first synthetic biology programming language for mRNA.
7.) John Casey, Ph.D., Venture Partner – Casey is the CEO of Ormoni. He brings a wealth of experience in venture creation, scientific strategy, and innovation in biotech startups to the firm. Prior to Ormoni, Casey was Co-founder and Head of Business Development at Senda Biosciences (now Sail Biomedicines), which programs to efficiently develop more targeted and efficacious RNA therapeutics. Previously, Casey was at Flagship Pioneering, where he co-founded Inari Agriculture, a leading crop sciences company developing transformative seed technologies to yield higher productivity and sustainability in our food system.
KEY QUOTES:
“With Fund IV, Pillar VC will continue to focus on transforming breakthrough science into world-changing companies. Today’s unprecedented challenges demand scientific solutions. Our team bridges the gap between scientific innovation and commercialization expertise, partnering with technically brilliant founders who see past ‘impossible’ to ‘inevitable.’”
– Jamie Goldstein, Founding Partner of Pillar VC
“At Pillar VC, our Venture Partners share deep expertise with our team, supporting us with diligence and industry insight. Our Founding Pillars are advisors to our firm and often serve as board members, mentors and early customers for our portfolio companies. As we launch our new fund and expand our portfolio, we’re looking forward to adding a number of leaders who we know will provide invaluable guidance as Pillar VC enters our next phase of growth.”
– Sarah Hodges, Managing Partner of Pillar VC
