What Digitalis Ventures does

Digitalis Ventures is a privately-held venture capital firm headquartered at 11 Times Square, New York, that invests in early-stage companies solving complex problems in human and animal health. Founded by Geoffrey W. Smith, the firm operates as the venture capital arm of The Digitalis Group, alongside Digitalis Commons (a non-profit building public-interest health technology), Digitalis Labs (designing novel biomedicine and health technologies), and Digitalis Research. The firm runs two principal programs: a Human Health program covering Life Sciences (biotechnology companies leveraging breakthrough science, e.g., EpiBiologics, Terray Therapeutics, Judo Bio, Switch Therapeutics, T-Therapeutics, Bonum Therapeutics) and Health Technologies (access, cost, and outcomes plays such as Clasp, Findhelp, Expressable, CandidPro, Positive Development, Varda, Reema Health, Ansel, Elemental Machines, Helm Health); and an Animal Health program operated through the Companion Funds in partnership with Mars Petcare, which gives portfolio companies access to 70,000+ Mars associates, 2,500+ clinics and labs, and operations across 130+ countries (portfolio includes Gallant, Rejuvenate Bio, Astra Therapeutics, Scratchpay, Native Pet, PetMedix, Honor Pet, Oncura). The Animal Health program additionally co-runs the Leap Venture Studio accelerator with Michelsen Found Animals and R/GA Ventures for earliest-stage pet health founders.

The firm generates revenue through standard venture fund economics: management fees on committed capital and carried interest on fund returns. Digitalis reports aggregate assets under management exceeding $800 million, anchored by the $300 million Companion Fund II launched with Mars Petcare in October 2023. Management fee rates, carried interest terms, fund minimums, and full LP composition are not publicly disclosed. As of the source data, Digitalis manages capital from offices and investor presence in New York City (HQ), Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Gainesville, and Zurich, with a 16-person team comprising two Managing Partners (Geoffrey W. Smith; Misti Ushio, ex-TARA Biosystems CEO and ex-Merck), four Partners (Samuel Bjork, Amit Bansal, Ben Jacobs, Drew Taylor as Venture Partner), two Technical Partners (Dac Nguyen, Cindy Cole DVM PhD), a Principal (Travis Hughes, MD-PhD), three Associates, and finance staff. The firm actively publishes investment thesis content via the Digitalis Notebook (monthly Notes on Engineering Health; bimonthly Notes on Animal Health).

Name

Digitalis Ventures

Legal name

Digitalis Ventures

Website

https://digitalisventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Digitalis Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm that invests early-stage capital in human and animal health companies across life sciences, health technologies, and pet health, managing over $800M and co-managing the Companion Funds with Mars Petcare.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Technology & Software Growth Equity (FSANACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Venture Capital Fundraising Placement (FSAEALAC)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Life sciences venture capital
• Animal health investing
• Biomedicine investments
• Health technology funding

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Venture capital fund management: Digitalis Ventures manages venture capital funds (including the Companion Funds with Mars Petcare) that invest in early-stage companies across human and animal health; as a VC firm, revenue is generated through typical fund economics including management fees on committed capital and carried interest (carried interest / promote) on fund returns, with capital deployed across multiple portfolio companies and reinvested in subsequent rounds.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Core offering

Digitalis Ventures is a venture capital firm that provides early-stage equity financing to companies solving complex problems in human and animal health. It operates two primary investment programs—a Human Health program (Life Sciences and Health Technologies) and an Animal Health program executed through Companion Funds in partnership with Mars Petcare—supplemented by the Leap Venture Studio accelerator for earliest-stage pet health founders.

Product overview

Digitalis Ventures is a single venture capital platform (not a packaged SaaS product) that invests across two primary program areas — Human Health (Life Sciences and Health Technologies) and Animal Health (operated through the Companion Funds in partnership with Mars Petcare, with the Leap Venture Studio accelerator for earliest-stage founders). The Human Health program backs biotechnology and technology-enabled healthcare companies (e.g., EpiBiologics, Terray Therapeutics, Faeth Therapeutics, Clasp, Elemental Machines, Findhelp), while the Animal Health program backs pet health startups (e.g., Rejuvenate Bio, Gallant, Astra Therapeutics, Scratchpay, Native Pet, PetMedix). The platform is part of the broader Digitalis Group, which also encompasses Digitalis Commons (a non-profit building public-interest health technology) and Digitalis Labs (designing novel biomedicine and health technologies), with related content published through the Digitalis Notebook.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Companion Funds: Digitalis Ventures' branded fund vehicles that invest in animal health companies in partnership with Mars Petcare, leveraging Mars Petcare's operational experience and global footprint across more than 130 countries.

Products and services

• Digitalis Ventures Human Health Investing Program Venture capital program investing in early-stage biotechnology companies leveraging breakthrough science to improve human health, and in technology-enabled solutions that improve access to care, outcomes, and cost; includes Life Sciences and Health Technologies sub-portfolios.
• Digitalis Ventures Animal Health / Companion Funds Venture capital program, operated in partnership with Mars Petcare, that invests in companies leveraging science, technology, and design to improve animal health; includes the Companion Funds vehicle and the Leap Venture Studio accelerator with Michelsen Found Animals and R/GA Ventures.
• Leap Venture Studio Accelerator program, run in partnership with Michelsen Found Animals and R/GA Ventures, that serves earliest-stage pet health founders and provides Digitalis Ventures with a structured deal-flow channel in animal health.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Khosla Ventures: Large early-stage venture firm with a meaningful health and biotech investing practice — comparable in early-stage, science-led thesis but materially broader in scope (consumer, deep tech, climate).
• GV (Google Ventures): GV's life sciences team co-led the $107M EpiBiologics Series B with Digitalis participating — comparable in life-sciences investing mandate, though GV is a much larger, generalist fund.
• OrbiMed Advisors: Healthcare-dedicated investment firm across venture, growth, and credit — broadly comparable in health-only mandate, but at significantly larger AUM and across all stages.

Direct peers

• ARCH Venture Partners: Long-established venture capital firm investing primarily in early-stage biotechnology and life sciences companies — directly comparable to Digitalis's Life Sciences book on breakthrough science and platform biology.
• Flagship Pioneering: Biotech creation engine that originates and funds platform biotech companies — closely comparable to Digitalis's investment in breakthrough human-health science and its technical bench-driven sourcing model.
• Lux Capital: Early-stage venture firm investing at the intersection of science, technology, and health — directly comparable in thesis (frontier science + tech-enabled health) and stage (early-stage).
• Section 32: Venture firm founded by Bill Maris focused on health-tech, biotech, and frontier science — directly comparable to Digitalis in both Human Health verticals and in stage and check size.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Bio + Health): a16z Bio/Health funds invest in biotech, digital health, and health-tech companies — directly comparable in human-health investing mandate, although a16z operates at materially larger AUM and broader scope.
• MPM Capital: Biotech-focused venture firm investing across oncology and platform biology — directly comparable to Digitalis's Human Health life sciences book on early-stage therapeutic platforms.

Regional players

• Companion Fund: Animal-health focused venture fund — overlaps directly with Digitalis's Companion Funds platform as a peer in the niche pet/animal-health VC category, though independent rather than a Mars-co-managed vehicle.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/digitalisvc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digitalis-ventures
• Instagraminstagram.com/digitalisventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments121 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Digitalis Ventures