Sands Capital Raises $555M for 3rd Life Sciences Fund

Sands Capital, a venture capital and growth equity investor, has secured $555 million for its third Pulse fund, which focuses on life sciences, increasing the total capital commitment across all three funds to $1.3 billion.

The fund will focus on “private companies helping transform how diseases are defined, diagnosed and treated,” the firm said.

The fund close comes nearly three years after the Virginia-based firm completed its second life sciences fund, Pulse II, which raised $560 million for private companies developing therapeutics, diagnostics, and life science tools.

“The life sciences sector continues to innovate at a rapid pace, leading to breakthroughs that benefit both patients and society as a whole,” Stephen Zachary, managing partner at Sands Capital.

Sands Capital’s Pulse program, introduced in 2018, has funded approximately 40 life sciences businesses, including Karuna Therapeutics, Freenome, and RayzeBio.

So far this year, Sands has participated in at least two therapeutic rounds worth more than $50 million, including BioAge Labs’ $170 million series D round announced in February and Avenzo Therapeutics’ $150 million series A-1 round.

As of March 31, 2024, Sands Capital managed over $54 billion in public and private equity investments including more than $5 billion in life sciences and health care companies globally across all strategies. Its investments are in the range of $25 million to $40 million.