ARCH Venture Partners
UnclaimedAt a Glance
- Check Size
- $500K – $5M
- Stage
- Seed, Series A
- AUM
- $12B
- Sectors
- Biotech, Digital Health
- Founded
- 1986
- HQ
- Chicago, IL
About ARCH Venture Partners
ARCH Venture Partners is a venture capital firm based in Chicago, IL founded in 1986. ARCH Venture Partners provides seed / early stage venture capital for technology firms in information technology, life sciences, and physical sciences The firm focuses on Seed, Series A investments across sectors including Biotech, Digital Health. The firm manages $3.7B in assets under management. Notable portfolio companies include Moderna, 10x Genomics, Juno Therapeutics, Lyft, UiPath and Unity Biotechnology. Invests at concept stage, co-founding breakthrough life sciences and technology platforms with transformative potential.
Investment Thesis
“Invests at concept stage, co-founding breakthrough life sciences and technology platforms with transformative potential.”
Sector Focus
Investment Stage
Notable Portfolio Companies
Fund History
ARCH has raised thirteen flagship funds since 1986 and manages roughly $12 billion. The firm closed ARCH Venture Fund XII at $2.975 billion in June 2022 and followed with Fund XIII at more than $3 billion in September 2024, among the largest dedicated early-stage biotechnology vehicles ever raised and an early signal that biotech financing was reviving after a two-year drought.
Fund XIII is deploying into next-generation and AI-enabled biotech companies; disclosed investments include ArsenalBio, Metsera, Mirador Therapeutics and Xaira Therapeutics. ARCH says the investment philosophy has not changed across 38 years: bet on great science and great teams at the moment of company formation. That model, co-founding companies around academic and institutional research rather than competing in priced rounds, explains the fund sizes. ARCH expects to fund a company across its entire private life and frequently leads several successive rounds itself, which requires reserves that a conventional early-stage fund would not carry.
SEC Fund Filings
- Vehicles filed, last 24 months
- 1
- Latest filing
ARCH Venture Partners filed a Form D for 1 fund vehicle between Sep 26, 2024 and Sep 25, 2026.
| Fund vehicle | Source |
|---|---|
| ARCH Venture Fund XIV, L.P. | SEC Form D, filed |
A Form D is the notice a fund files with the SEC when it raises money in a private offering. Feeder funds, parallel funds and SPVs each file their own, so the count measures filing activity, not the number of flagship funds.
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D filings for pooled investment funds, original filings only (amendments excluded). Our filing data starts Jul 1, 2024. Vehicles are matched to ARCH Venture Partners by fund name and checked against the sponsor address and named principals on each filing; offering amounts are not shown. Each “SEC Form D” link opens an EDGAR full-text search for that vehicle’s exact name, where the filing itself is listed. See every new fund filing on the Form D Radar.
Team (6)
Clinton Bybee
Co-Founder and Managing Director Emeritus, ARCH Venture Partners
Kristina Burow
Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Mark McDonnell
Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Paul Berns
Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Robert Nelsen
Co-Founder and Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Steve Gillis
Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners
Related Articles (3)
Frequently Asked Questions
What stage does ARCH Venture Partners invest at?
ARCH Venture Partners primarily invests at the Seed, Series A stages. This means they focus on companies that are building their initial product and finding product-market fit.
Where is ARCH Venture Partners located?
ARCH Venture Partners is headquartered in Chicago, IL. Many of their portfolio companies are also based in this region, though they invest across geographies.
What sectors does ARCH Venture Partners focus on?
ARCH Venture Partners focuses on investments in Biotech, Digital Health. Their portfolio reflects deep expertise and networks within these sectors.
What is ARCH Venture Partners's typical check size?
ARCH Venture Partners's typical investment check size ranges from $500K to $5M. Actual amounts may vary based on the stage, sector, and specific opportunity.
How much does ARCH Venture Partners have under management?
ARCH Venture Partners manages approximately $12B in assets under management (AUM) across their funds.
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