Today we announced the closing of Atlas Venture Fund XI, a $350M investment vehicle focused exclusively on early stage biotech investing.

Since launching our fundraising process in April, we’ve received a truly humbling level of support and interest in our strategy from new and existing Limited Partners, and closed the fund heavily oversubscribed above its original target. A successful fundraise depends in large part on the entrepreneurs who have not only delivered great outcomes but also provided their positive “war story” references on their VCs in the process – so thanks to all of the great entrepreneurs (and co-investors) we’ve had the privilege to work with!

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Atlas Venture, a leading early stage venture capital firm investing in groundbreaking biotech innovation, today announced the closing of its eleventh fund, raising $350 million in a highly oversubscribed fundraise. With Fund XI, Atlas Venture will continue to advance its mission of doing well by doing good, building biotech companies to deliver high-impact therapies to patients.

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Much has been said about who and when to hire in this blog (here and here for example), but the how is just as important.  What I’ve observed having built teams across multiple companies is that the support one enlists to build a team can dramatically impact the quality of the process.  I will spend a few paragraphs on the cast of characters that can help this important process be as successful as possible.

This blog was written by Ankit Mahadevia, CEO of Spero Therapeutics, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.

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The 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (“ASCO”) meeting concluded last week, providing patients, physicians, and industry stakeholders with a big batch of new clinical breakthroughs and disappointments. This event never lacks media coverage, so rather than run through all of the highlights, I’ll draw attention to several underlying themes I find striking, particularly from my perspective as an early-stage biotech company-builder and investor.

This blog was written by Michael Gladstone, Principal at Atlas Venture, as part of the From The Trenches feature of LifeSciVC.

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On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was summoned by Dr. Joseph Warren of Boston to ride to Lexington with news that British regulars were marching into the countryside north of the city. A seemingly daunting task, Revere crossed the river into Charlestown, mounted a borrowed horse and began his famous trek. Fast forward to 2016, and another daunting task unfolds: A small biotech across the river from Boston sets out to acquire a promising asset from a global pharma with U.S. headquarters in Lexington. The former begins the story of the American Revolution, and the latter…perhaps a new revolution in mRNA therapeutics.

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