Neuro Ventures

NeuroVentures Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2000 and based in Charlottesville, Virginia, that claims to be the largest fund in the United States focused exclusively on the neuroscience space. The firm invests in companies developing drugs, medical devices, therapeutics, and technologies to treat central nervous system disorders including stroke, chronic pain, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and depression. NeuroVentures manages approximately $15 million and writes tickets ranging from $200,000 to $2 million, backing both development-stage and later-stage companies at seed, Series A, and Series B. The firm is led by Managing Director Mark Cochran, a PhD molecular biologist from Queen's University with postdoctoral training at the NIH, who previously served as VP of Business Development at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, founded MicroGeneSys Inc., and ran the San Francisco office of Toronto-based MDS Capital Corp. He is joined by Director Daniel O'Connell, who has operated multiple medical and healthcare startups. The firm's scientific advisory board includes Floyd Bloom of Scripps Research, Zach Hall (former director of NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke), William Mobley of Stanford Neurology, and Donald Price of Johns Hopkins. NeuroVentures has made approximately 27 investments with four exits: one IPO — Acumen Pharmaceuticals, listed in July 2021 — and three acquisitions including Concentric Medical and Saegis Pharma. Other notable portfolio names include BrainCells Inc., which raised a $17.7 million Series A in 2005, EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, and Kadmus Pharmaceuticals. NeuroVentures Capital's singular focus on CNS diseases gives it scientific credibility and a curated network of neurologists, pharmacologists, and device engineers that few generalist life-science funds can replicate.