Elm Street Ventures
Elm Street Ventures is a Yale-affiliated seed and early-stage venture capital fund that invests in companies commercializing Yale research, with over half of its 30+ portfolio companies holding Yale technology licenses across therapeutics, chemistry, and bioengineering.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersNew Haven, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Elm Street Ventures does
Elm Street Ventures is a Yale University-affiliated seed and early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2006 and headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm invests primarily in companies commercializing Yale University research, with more than 50% of its 30+ portfolio companies holding Yale technology licenses. Its portfolio spans targeted protein degradation and oncology platforms (Arvinas, Allyx Therapeutics, Halda Therapeutics, Cybrexa), Yale-derived specialty chemistry (P2 Science), and bio-engineering tools such as CellFE. The fund's stated discipline is concentrated deeptech and life sciences deployment where Yale-derived IP provides defensible technical positioning.
The fund operates a structured seed and Series A investment model, typically writing initial checks of $500K to $1M per portfolio company and reserving $2-2.5M for follow-on capital. It is led by Managing Partners Rob Bettigole (founder) and Chris McLeod, with Jonas Clark as Partner and a broader bench of Venture Partners (Brian Dixon, David Whittaker, Rick Stahl) and Science Advisor Paul Anastas, a prominent figure in Yale's green chemistry research community. The firm maintains a lean team of 1-10 employees consistent with a focused seed-stage operation.
As a fund vehicle, Elm Street Ventures earns revenue through management fees on committed limited partner capital and carried interest on fund returns. Yale University is the largest limited partner, providing both anchor capital and a structurally privileged sourcing channel into faculty research, technology transfer office licensing, and the Yale student and alumni founder pipeline. The fund's competitive position rests on its entrenched role as the primary institutional capital partner for Yale technology commercialization, with a long operating history and a publicly traded portfolio company (Arvinas) that validates the model.
Elm Street Ventures firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Elm Street Ventures
- Legal name
- Elm Street Ventures
- Website
- https://elmvc.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Elm Street Ventures is a Yale-affiliated seed and early-stage venture capital fund that invests in companies commercializing Yale research, with over half of its 30+ portfolio companies holding Yale technology licenses across therapeutics, chemistry, and bioengineering.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Elm Street Ventures industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital / Seed and Early Stage Investing
- NAICS
- Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)
Keywords
Where Elm Street Ventures is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New Haven
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Elm Street Ventures business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Venture Capital Returns: Generates returns through capital appreciation and exits from portfolio companies. Revenue comes from management fees and carried interest on successful investments.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Elm Street Ventures product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Elm Street Ventures is a seed and early stage venture capital fund that invests in Yale-affiliated and Greater New Haven area companies developing therapeutics, advanced tools and materials for industry, and climate interventions. The fund typically makes initial investments of $500,000 to $1 million with additional follow-on capital of $2 to $2.5 million across multiple financing rounds, and often co-founds portfolio companies alongside founders.
Product overview
Elm Street Ventures is a seed and early stage venture capital fund based in New Haven, Connecticut, founded in 2006. The firm focuses on investing in Yale faculty and researchers developing cutting-edge technology across life sciences (including therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, research tools, digital health, materials), clean technology with emphasis on green chemistry, and information technology including mobile and social web. The fund typically makes initial investments of $500,000 to $1 million with additional follow-on capital of $2 to $2.5 million. Yale University is the fund's largest investor, and more than half of portfolio companies hold licenses to Yale technology. The firm does not offer products or services in the traditional SaaS/product sense; rather, it provides capital and strategic guidance to early-stage companies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Seed and Early Stage Venture Fund Elm Street Ventures' primary offering is its venture fund that provides seed and early-stage capital, board involvement, management recruiting, partnering strategies, and follow-on investment support to Yale-affiliated founders and Greater New Haven area companies. The fund is contracted with founding teams building companies in life sciences, clean technology, and information technology sectors.
Companies that use Elm Street Ventures
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Elm Street Ventures technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Elm Street Ventures partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- University of ConnecticutminorESV maintains relationships with UConn's Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, extending their Connecticut network beyond Yale.
- Jackson LabsminorRelationship with Jackson Labs for potential investment opportunities in the life sciences space in Connecticut.
- Yale VenturescoreYale Ventures is the central hub for Yale's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Rob Bettigole serves as Entrepreneur-in-residence at Yale Ventures.
- Yale School of Engineering & Applied SciencecoreSEAS is home to Applied Physics, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science - key source of technology for potential investments.
- The Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at YalecorePaul Anastas, Director of Yale's Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, serves as Science Advisor to Elm Street Ventures. He co-founded the field of green chemistry and is father of green chemistry.
- Climate HavenminorNew Haven-based innovation hub devoted to decarbonizing the economy, aligned with ESV's clean technology investment focus.
- BioLabs New HavenminorEarly home for biotech entrepreneurs in Connecticut, providing potential deal flow and support for portfolio companies.
- New Haven Innovation LabsminorState-of-the-art laboratory incubator for scientists and entrepreneurs in New Haven, potential support for portfolio companies.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Elm Street Ventures competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut's quasi-state venture capital arm. Directly comparable as a Connecticut-focused seed and early-stage investor that frequently co-invests alongside Elm Street Ventures in the same Yale and greater New Haven portfolio companies.
- Osage University Partners: Specialized venture firm that invests in university spinouts and licenses technology from academic institutions. Highly comparable as an academic-tech-transfer-focused seed investor, with a similar thesis of monetizing university IP through startup formation.
- 5AM Ventures: Early-stage life sciences venture firm focused on creating and seeding therapeutic platforms. Comparable as a seed-stage biotech investor building companies around academic and scientific founders, overlapping significantly with ESV's therapeutic portfolio strategy.
- Allied Minds: Former public firm that formed and seeded startups based on university-licensed IP. Comparable as a university spinout formation specialist, though with a broader multi-institution sourcing model rather than a single-anchor university focus.
Broad incumbents
- Atlas Venture: Long-standing biotech-focused early-stage venture firm building and seeding therapeutic platforms. Comparable as a seed/Series A life sciences investor targeting breakthrough science, though at materially larger fund size and broader geographic scope.
- ARCH Venture Partners: Large early-stage venture firm focused on frontier science and technology, often spinning out academic research. Comparable as an academic-IP-driven life sciences and deep tech investor, but operating at substantially greater scale and across multiple universities.
- Flagship Pioneering: Large biotech creation platform that originates and seeds therapeutic and platform companies internally. Comparable as a science-first company builder in life sciences, but operating as a much larger, multi-fund platform rather than a single seed-stage fund.
- Alexandria Venture Investments: The strategic venture arm of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, a major life sciences real estate operator. Comparable as a long-horizon investor in early-stage biotech platforms, often co-investing alongside seed funds in similar therapeutic asset classes.
Emerging players
- Sound Ventures: Multi-stage venture firm with exposure to breakthrough science and technology themes. Partial overlap as an early-stage investor backing ambitious founders in deep tech, though less anchored to a single academic ecosystem.
Regional players
- Cycad Ventures: Early-stage venture firm with ties to the Yale entrepreneurial ecosystem and New Haven-area founders. Comparable as a regional seed investor drawing from the same Yale-affiliated deal flow, though with a narrower sector focus and different LP base.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Elm Street Ventures social profiles
Digital presenceElm Street Ventures financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Elm Street Ventures leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Elm Street Ventures funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Elm Street Ventures M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments31 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Elm Street Ventures
What does Elm Street Ventures do?
Elm Street Ventures is a seed and early stage venture capital fund that invests in Yale-affiliated and Greater New Haven area companies developing therapeutics, advanced tools and materials for industry, and climate interventions. The fund typically makes initial investments of $500,000 to $1 million with additional follow-on capital of $2 to $2.5 million across multiple financing rounds, and often co-founds portfolio companies alongside founders.
Is Elm Street Ventures a public or private company?
Elm Street Ventures is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Elm Street Ventures founded?
Elm Street Ventures was founded in 2006. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Elm Street Ventures based?
Elm Street Ventures is headquartered in New Haven, United States, in the North America region.
How does Elm Street Ventures make money?
One revenue line is on record: venture Capital Returns.
Who are Elm Street Ventures's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Connecticut Innovations, Osage University Partners, 5AM Ventures and Allied Minds. Broad incumbents are Atlas Venture, ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Pioneering and Alexandria Venture Investments. Sound Ventures is listed as an emerging player. Cycad Ventures is listed as a regional player.
Does Elm Street Ventures have an API?
No public API is recorded for Elm Street Ventures.
What industry is Elm Street Ventures in?
Elm Street Ventures's product category is Venture Capital / Seed and Early Stage Investing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B). Its NAICS code is 52394 and its SIC code is 6282.