Mission Bay Capital
Mission Bay Capital is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2009 that invests in bioscience companies across therapeutics, diagnostics, and sustainable materials. It operates the MBC BioLabs incubator network with four Bay Area sites serving as its primary deal-sourcing engine, having launched 169-300 portfolio companies.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Mission Bay Capital does
Mission Bay Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2009 and headquartered at 953 Indiana Street in San Francisco, California. The firm focuses on pivotal, early-stage investments in bioscience companies spanning therapeutics, diagnostics, and sustainable materials, and is managed by Douglas Crawford PhD, who founded the firm and serves as Managing Director. Mission Bay Capital's principal product is its venture capital funds (most recently Fund III at $60 million, closed September 2019, up from $25 million in Fund II) raised from a mix of institutional and corporate limited partners including Astellas Venture Management, Eli Lilly, Mayfield, UC Investments, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Zambon (via Zcube), and Banyan Pacific Capital.
The firm operates MBC BioLabs, a wholly owned life-science incubator network with four sites across San Francisco and San Carlos that provides fully equipped laboratory facilities, business services, and advisory support to early-stage biotech companies. MBC BioLabs functions as the firm's primary deal-sourcing engine, enabling entrepreneurs to begin experiments on day one and accelerating the path from scientific idea to funded company. The portfolio and incubator ecosystem has supported 169-300 companies that have collectively raised between $4 billion and $14 billion in follow-on capital and brought 53-153 programs into clinical development.
The revenue model follows traditional venture capital economics: management fees (typically 1-2% of committed capital) drawn against fund AUM, supplemented by carried interest on profitable portfolio exits. Notable portfolio exits and partnerships include Alector (with a $205M AbbVie immuno-neurology partnership), Principia Biopharma (with a Sanofi licensing deal valued at up to $805M), Bolt Threads, Atreca, Cell Design Labs, iPierian, Mitokinin, and Redwood Biosciences. The firm is supported by an Investment Advisory Committee that includes Brook Byers (Kleiner Perkins), John Wadsworth Jr. (Manitou Ventures), Wende Hutton (Canaan), Jonathan Root MD (USVP), Camille Samuels (Venrock), and Greg Yap (Menlo Ventures), giving portfolio companies privileged access to follow-on capital and syndicate partners.
Mission Bay Capital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Mission Bay Capital
- Legal name
- Mission Bay Capital
- Website
- https://missionbaycapital.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Mission Bay Capital is a San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2009 that invests in bioscience companies across therapeutics, diagnostics, and sustainable materials. It operates the MBC BioLabs incubator network with four Bay Area sites serving as its primary deal-sourcing engine, having launched 169-300 portfolio companies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Mission Bay Capital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Other Financial Investment Activities (5239), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Financial Vehicles (525990)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
Keywords
Where Mission Bay Capital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Mission Bay Capital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Management Fees and Carried Interest: Traditional venture capital revenue model consisting of management fees (typically 1-2% of committed capital annually) and carried interest (typically 20% of investment profits above the hurdle rate). Returns are generated through successful portfolio company exits via IPOs and acquisitions.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Mission Bay Capital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Mission Bay Capital is an early-stage bioscience venture capital firm that deploys limited-partner capital (most recently a $60 million Fund III) into therapeutics, diagnostics, and sustainable-materials startups, and operates the MBC BioLabs incubator network of fully equipped lab spaces in San Francisco and San Carlos. The fund and incubator work together to provide capital plus ready-to-use laboratory infrastructure and business support services to entrepreneurial scientists building biotech companies.
Product overview
Mission Bay Capital operates as an early-stage life-science venture capital firm offering investment funds and an associated incubator ecosystem. The firm manages venture capital funds (Fund III being the most recent at $60 million) for bioscience investments and operates MBC BioLabs, a life-science incubator network. These two offerings work together: the incubator helps entrepreneurial scientists establish companies quickly with lab facilities and support services, while the fund provides early-stage capital for portfolio companies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Mission Bay Capital Fund III $60 million early-stage venture capital fund investing in biotechnology innovations addressing unmet medical needs, sustainable materials, and healthy foods. Targets pre-seed and seed-stage bioscience companies primarily sourced through the MBC BioLabs incubator network and university partnerships.
- MBC BioLabs Bay Area life-science incubator network with four sites in San Francisco and San Carlos, providing fully equipped lab spaces, state-of-the-art equipment, and business services to help early-stage biotech companies launch and succeed. Used by both Mission Bay Capital portfolio companies and external biotech startups.
Quantifiable outcome
- 300 companies launched in first 10 years of MBC BioLabs
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Mission Bay Capital
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Mission Bay Capital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Mission Bay Capital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- SanofiminorLicensed Principia Biopharma's MS drug candidate PRN2246 for $40M upfront plus $765M milestones; Sanofi partnered with Mission Bay Capital portfolio company
- AbbViecore$205M partnership with Alector for Alzheimer's disease therapeutics using immuno-neurology approach; AbbVie co-invested with Mission Bay Capital
- NovartisminorEntered drug discovery collaboration with Perlara PBC for lysosomal storage disorders; made equity investment in the company
- MBC BioLabscoreState-of-the-art life science incubator network operated by Mission Bay Capital with four sites in San Francisco and San Carlos. Provides fully equipped lab spaces enabling startups to do experiments on day one. Has helped launch 169+ companies that raised $4B+
- AmgenminorEntered R&D agreement with SiteOne Therapeutics for NaV1.7 inhibitors; led SiteOne's $15M Series B; Mission Bay Capital portfolio company partnership
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Mission Bay Capital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Atlas Venture: Early-stage life sciences venture firm that builds biotech companies from inception through a science-first model. Highly comparable to Mission Bay Capital in stage, sector focus, and approach to company formation.
- ARCH Venture Partners: Venture firm focused on founding and seeding early-stage biotechnology companies out of academic and industrial research. Closely matches Mission Bay Capital's lab-spinout, bioscience-only investment strategy.
- 5AM Ventures: Early-stage venture capital firm exclusively focused on life sciences, including therapeutics, platforms, and diagnostics. Comparable stage, sector focus, and company-creation orientation to Mission Bay Capital.
- Versant Ventures: Healthcare-focused venture firm investing across biotech, medtech, and pharmaceuticals with significant early-stage activity. Comparable bioscience-only thesis and stage profile to Mission Bay Capital.
- Flagship Pioneering: Biotechnology company-creation platform that originates and grows new ventures from internal scientific concepts. Mirrors Mission Bay Capital's incubator-led approach to building early-stage biotech companies.
- Mission BioCapital: Sister firm linked to Mission Bay Capital via shared leadership (Douglas Crawford, Brian Atwood) and the MBC BioLabs ecosystem; invests in early-stage life sciences with a comparable bioscience-only, company-creation focus.
Broad incumbents
- Andreessen Horowitz Bio / a16z Bio: Large generalist venture firm with a dedicated bio/health fund investing across stages of life sciences. Overlaps Mission Bay Capital in early-stage biotech but operates at far greater AUM and breadth.
- Lux Capital: Venture firm investing in frontier science and technology including biotech, with both seed and growth activity. Comparable in scientific-orientation and willingness to invest pre-company-formation.
- Alexandria Venture Investments: Strategic venture arm of Alexandria Real Estate Equities that invests in life-science startups, often co-located in its lab real-estate properties. Comparable thesis of pairing lab infrastructure with early-stage biotech capital.
Emerging players
- Petri Ventures: Early-stage biotech investor with a strong focus on company formation from academic labs. Comparable to Mission Bay Capital's lab-spinout and seed-stage biotech orientation but at an earlier firm stage.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Mission Bay Capital social profiles
Digital presenceMission Bay Capital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Mission Bay Capital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Mission Bay Capital subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Mission Bay Capital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Mission Bay Capital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments42 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Mission Bay Capital
What does Mission Bay Capital do?
Mission Bay Capital is an early-stage bioscience venture capital firm that deploys limited-partner capital (most recently a $60 million Fund III) into therapeutics, diagnostics, and sustainable-materials startups, and operates the MBC BioLabs incubator network of fully equipped lab spaces in San Francisco and San Carlos. The fund and incubator work together to provide capital plus ready-to-use laboratory infrastructure and business support services to entrepreneurial scientists building biotech companies.
Is Mission Bay Capital a public or private company?
Mission Bay Capital is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Mission Bay Capital founded?
Mission Bay Capital was founded in 2009. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Mission Bay Capital based?
Mission Bay Capital is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Mission Bay Capital make money?
One revenue line is on record: management Fees and Carried Interest.
Who are Mission Bay Capital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Atlas Venture, ARCH Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, Flagship Pioneering and Mission BioCapital. Broad incumbents are Andreessen Horowitz Bio / a16z Bio, Lux Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. Petri Ventures is listed as an emerging player.
Does Mission Bay Capital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Mission Bay Capital.
What industry is Mission Bay Capital in?
Mission Bay Capital's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAD, Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists), with a secondary code of FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B). Its NAICS code is 5239 and its SIC code is 6282.