Andreessen Horowitz, Eli Lilly Team on $500M Biotech Venture Fund

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)’s Bio + Health division announced a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to create a $500 million venture capital fund designed to speed up innovation in healthcare and biotechnology.

The Biotech Ecosystem Venture Fund will invest in companies creating novel treatment platforms and technologies at all phases of development, from startups to established companies.

Lilly, which is contributing all the fund’s capital, will provide portfolio businesses access to Catalyze360, its biotech startup support infrastructure. This offers access to Lilly’s drug development knowledge and resources via programs like Lilly Gateway Labs and Lilly ExplorR&D.

“Combining our strengths as organizations will empower founders with not only the venture backing needed to advance groundbreaking technologies, but also the resources needed to strategically select the most promising application areas for these platforms,” said Dr. Vineeta Agarwala, general partner at a16z Bio + Health.

The fund will be managed by a16z Bio + Health. It intends to make long-term investments in firms that use breakthrough biological research, engineering technologies, and AI capabilities to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.

The fund represents a novel collaboration between a major venture capital firm and a pharmaceutical company and follows the release of a Silicon Valley Bank report that found healthcare venture capital investment reached $23 billion in 2024, marking a $3 billion increase from the previous year.

a16z, founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in 2009, currently has $44 billion in committed capital across its funds. Notable investments include Big Hat Biosciences, Cartography Biosciences and CAMP4 Therapeutics.