What Lilly Asia Ventures does

Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a global biomedical venture capital firm that invests in early- and growth-stage companies developing breakthrough products in biopharmaceuticals, human therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics. The firm originated in 2008 as a corporate venture subsidiary of Eli Lilly and spun off to become an independent investment management company in 2011; it currently operates from three regional offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Palo Alto (Menlo Park, CA) and is led by Founder, Managing Director, and Managing Partner Yi Shi alongside a team of more than 50 professionals with backgrounds in science, medicine, investment, and operations. LAV's underlying 'technology' is its investment team, scientific advisor network, and accumulated domain expertise across preclinical/clinical development, regulatory pathways, and biomedical KOL relationships — not a software or hardware stack — and it explicitly positions itself as a long-term, patient-capital investor that avoids 'quick flip' deals.

The firm's single core offering is long-term equity capital combined with value-added strategic support (executive recruiting, industry contacts, business development) for biomedical entrepreneurs across China, the US, and globally. Its disclosed portfolio spans 80+ named companies, including Abbisko, CanSino, Chipscreen, Connect Biopharma, CrownBio, Cullinan Oncology, Dizal Pharma, EdiGene, Gracell, Innovent, Insilico Medicine, Jacobio, Legend Biotech, Remegen, and many others spanning oncology, cell therapy, gene editing, and metabolic disease. In the 2025-2026 window LAV has participated in or co-led rounds including Pulnovo Medical ($100M, Medtronic-led), Syneron Bio ($150M Series B), Pinnacle Medicines ($89M Series B, co-led), EnChannel Medical ($82.2M Series B, co-led), Precede Biosciences ($83.5M), Excalipoint Therapeutics ($68.7M), StairMed (RMB 500M BCI), and Xianwenda Biotechnology (CNY 467.5M D-round), and its portfolio company IMPACT Therapeutics listed on the HKEX Main Board in May 2026.

LAV's business model is standard for an independent biomedical VC: it generates revenue from management fees on assets under management and from carried interest on fund performance, while returns to LPs are driven by capital appreciation of portfolio holdings realized through IPOs, M&A, and secondary sales. Deal sourcing is direct and relationship-driven — inbound business plans are submitted to [email protected] and supplemented by a large KOL/scientific-advisor network — and capital deployment is bespoke and negotiated deal-by-deal with portfolio companies, with no published pricing or standard contract terms. The firm's stated differentiators are its Eli Lilly heritage, its long-term capital orientation, its three-office Asia-US footprint, and its ability to support portfolio companies through both Chinese and US regulatory and commercialization pathways.

Name

Lilly Asia Ventures

Legal name

Lilly Asia Ventures

Website

https://www.lavfund.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is an independent biomedical venture capital firm founded in 2008 (spun off from Eli Lilly in 2011), providing long-term equity capital and value-added strategic support to early- and growth-stage companies in biopharmaceuticals, human therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics, with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Palo Alto.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biomedical Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Financial Vehicles (52599), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Impact / ESG Venture Capital (FSANAAAG)

Keywords

• Biomedical venture capital
• Life sciences investing
• Biopharmaceutical investment
• Medical device funding
• Healthcare startup capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Shanghai

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture capital fund returns: As a biomedical venture capital firm originated in 2008 as Eli Lilly's corporate venture arm and spun off as an independent investment management company in 2011, LAV generates returns through long-term equity investments in private biotech and medtech companies, with exits via IPOs, M&A, and secondary sales. Returns are derived from capital appreciation of portfolio holdings across biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics sectors in China, US, and globally.
2. Fund management fees and carried interest: As an independent investment management company since 2011, LAV earns management fees on assets under management and carried interest on fund performance, typical of a global biomedical VC firm managing multiple funds.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Core offering

Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a global biomedical venture capital firm that invests long-term equity capital into private companies developing breakthrough products in biopharmaceuticals, human therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics. Beyond capital, the firm provides significant value-add through strategic decision support, executive recruitment, industry contact introductions, and business development exploration. LAV originated in 2008 as Eli Lilly's corporate venture arm and spun off as an independent investment management company in 2011, and operates with a 50+ person team across Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Palo Alto.

Product overview

Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a leading biomedical venture capital firm, not a unified software product or a platform-plus-modules architecture. The firm's single core offering is the LAV Biomedical Venture Capital Investment — long-term smart capital combined with deep value-added support (strategic decision-making, executive recruitment, industry contacts, and business development) — for entrepreneurs building breakthrough products in biopharmaceuticals, human therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics. This offering is delivered through active deployment into portfolio companies such as Abbisko, Insilico Medicine, Legend Biotech, Innovent Bio, Gracell Bio, Cullinan Oncology, Arrivent, Black Diamond Therapeutics, Cansino, Chipscreen, Connect Biopharma, Regor, Remegen, and dozens of other invested businesses listed on the portfolio page. LAV operates from offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Palo Alto/Menlo Park and supports portfolio companies across preclinical and clinical development, regulatory strategy, and global market access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• LAV Biomedical Venture Capital Investment

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio company IMPACT Therapeutics (07630.HK) listed on HKEX Main Board on May 13, 2026
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Brain-computer interface (BCI) sector co-investors — Qiming Venture Partners, OrbiMedminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLAV grouped with Qiming Venture Partners and OrbiMed as a 'clinical-driven' investor in China's brain-computer interface sector in Q1 2026, which saw >4 billion yuan in financing. They are peer co-investors in BCI deals (e.g., StairMed) but share a clinical/scientific lens distinct from other investor types.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Qiming Venture Partners: China-founded, cross-border (China/US) healthcare and technology venture firm; co-invests alongside LAV in StairMed, Syneron Bio, Excalipoint, and Pulnovo Medical, making it the closest comparable in thesis, geography, and stage.
• OrbiMed: Global healthcare-dedicated investment firm with offices in the US, Asia, and Europe; co-invests with LAV across multiple portfolio companies (StairMed, Syneron Bio, Pulnovo) and shares a clinical/scientific investing lens in the biomedical VC category.
• 6 Dimensions Capital: Boston/Shanghai-based biomedical VC firm spun off from Wuxi AppTec; focuses on early-stage biopharma and medtech across China and the US — directly comparable cross-border biomedical VC peer.
• 5Y Capital (formerly Morningside Ventures): Asia-focused early- and growth-stage venture firm investing across healthcare and tech; co-invested with LAV in Excalipoint Therapeutics and shares a Chinese-biomedical focus.
• Lake Bleu Capital: Hong Kong-based public-and-private healthcare investment manager with strong China biotech exposure; directly comparable healthcare-specialist investor in Asia.

Broad incumbents

• Hillhouse Capital (HHLR): Asia-focused, multi-stage investment manager with a dedicated healthcare franchise; broader and larger than LAV, but overlaps significantly in Chinese biotech investing and stage.
• Bain Capital Life Sciences: Global life-sciences-focused investment platform of Bain Capital; invests in biopharma, medtech, and diagnostics globally — comparable category specialist with much larger AUM.
• Sequoia Capital China (HongShan): China-focused venture and growth firm with a dedicated healthcare practice; overlaps with LAV in Chinese biotech and medtech investing at growth stages but is a much broader, generalist platform.
• ARCH Venture Partners: US-based early-stage science-driven venture firm investing in biotechnology, medical devices, and diagnostics; comparable long-term, science-driven thesis at the US end of LAV's spectrum.
• Legend Capital: China-focused venture and growth firm (spin-off from Lenovo Holdings) with dedicated healthcare practice; comparable Chinese biomedical VC peer though broader and larger in AUM.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments252 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lilly Asia Ventures