Lilly Asia Ventures

Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a Shanghai-based biomedical venture capital firm founded in 2008 as the corporate venture arm of Eli Lilly before becoming fully independent in 2011, when it began raising third-party capital with Fund III. Headquartered in Shanghai with offices in Hong Kong and Palo Alto, LAV now manages approximately $4.5 billion in assets across seven funds. Fund VI closed at $1.35 billion in 2021, followed by Fund VII, which reached its $700 million hard cap. Managing Partner Yi Shi has led the firm since its founding, guiding its evolution from a corporate subsidiary into one of Asia's largest independent biomedical venture franchises. LAV invests globally across the full biomedical spectrum — from seed stage to publicly traded companies — in biopharmaceuticals, human therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics. The firm leads rounds and has made 326 total investments, achieving 54 portfolio exits. Among the most notable are NASDAQ IPOs for ArriVent, which reached a $575 million market cap in January 2024, and Alector, with a $1.3 billion market cap. Insilico Medicine became LAV's latest unicorn in 2025, exiting in December 2025 just three years after LAV's initial investment. Recent 2025 deals include StairMed Technology, Rona Therapeutics, EnChannel Medical, and a co-led $100 million Series C for Pulnova Medical. LAV's stated vision is to be the trusted partner for exceptional entrepreneurs seeking smart capital to build companies developing breakthrough health products. The firm brings deep scientific networks across Asia and North America, providing portfolio companies with access to clinical development expertise, regulatory knowledge, and global licensing relationships that are particularly valuable when bridging Asian and Western healthcare markets.