The group had seen early-stage biotech companies come through its networks, seeking small seed investments. The group invested in Encore in late 2013 and again in 2014.
"It was really through that investment that we realized there was an opportunity to invest in private biotech companies that were not on the coasts," Fletcher said.
The trio decided to formalize their partnership, founding their venture capital firm Bios Partners in 2015 to not only invest in companies but to help them develop as they scaled from preclinical startups to publicly traded companies.
As Bios Partners has grown, it has remained committed to investing in companies and talent from the South and the Midwest, rejecting a more elitist mindset that Fletcher said permeates the biotech community on the East and West coasts.
As BioLabs was researching a potential expansion into Dallas, Milne kept hearing from founders that they struggled to grow their companies if they kept them in Dallas. "The technology obviously has been building, the investors have been coming, and now it's a matter of developing the network."
Early successes like Reata Pharmaceuticals, which got initial investments from Dallas-area family offices, helped coastal players in the industry realize that Dallas investors were willing to fund biotech companies. "For a lot of investors, it's a little bit refreshing for them to see a company that doesn't have an address that's in San Francisco or Boston or Cambridge."
As for Blackburn, it could only be a matter of time before the next billion-dollar company walks through TechFW's door.
source: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/2021/09/02/biotech-is-sprouting-into-dallas-fort-worths-next-big-thing-based-on-seeds-planted-decades-ago/
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