What Magnetic Ventures does

Magnetic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2018 by Christine Aylward, headquartered in San Francisco with regional offices in Boston, Miami, and Research Triangle Park. The firm invests at the intersection of deep technology and life sciences, deploying initial checks of $1M to $6M at Seed and Series A stages with reserved follow-on capital, and primarily targets opportunities in North America and Europe. Its investment thesis centers on technology — including artificial intelligence, machine learning, multi-omics, and generative AI — revolutionizing drug discovery, precision medicine, regulatory workflows, and clinical trial operations.

The firm is led by a four-person team combining 39 years of industry experience, 20 years in academia, and 25 years of board and advisory experience, with specific operating expertise including FDA meeting participation and business development deal negotiation. Magnetic's portfolio spans AI-native drug discovery (Relation Therapeutics, Proxima, Deep Genomics), AI-native regulatory automation (Weave Bio), clinical trial technology (Paradigm), biomanufacturing (Resilience, Eclipsebio), and healthcare services (SameSky Health). Several portfolio companies have secured major pharmaceutical partnerships, including a multi-target deal with GSK worth up to $1.7B+ and a $1.7B+ deal with Novartis, both at Relation Therapeutics.

Magnetic generates revenue through conventional fund management economics — management fees on committed or invested capital and carried interest on successful exits — and does not disclose fund size or AUM. Its go-to-market is network-driven, relying on direct founder outreach, repeat co-investment with top-tier tech-bio investors (DCVC, NVentures/NVIDIA, Roivant, USVP), and content marketing through its website and team LinkedIn presence. The firm has no proprietary technology product and operates as a thesis-driven capital allocator with hands-on portfolio support.

Name

Magnetic Ventures

Legal name

Magnetic Ventures

Website

https://magneticvc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Magnetic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2018 that invests $1M–$6M at Seed and Series A in deep-tech life science companies across North America and Europe, serving visionary founders at the intersection of AI, machine learning, and biotechnology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

TechBio Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Seed investing
• Techbio investments
• Life sciences venture
• Early stage funding

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: Magnetic Ventures generates returns through fund management fees and carried interest from successful portfolio company exits. The firm provides capital to early-stage life science companies using deep technology, with investment thesis centered on technology revolutionizing every aspect of life sciences.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Magnetic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests capital and provides hands-on company-building support to founders applying deep technology (AI, ML, software, hardware) to life sciences, including drug discovery, precision medicine, multi-omics, and tech-enabled healthcare services. Initial check sizes range from $1M to $6M at Seed and Series A stages, with reserved follow-on capital for portfolio companies across North America and Europe.

Product overview

Magnetic Ventures operates as a venture capital firm offering a single unified investment service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The firm provides capital deployment and advisory services to early-stage companies at the intersection of deep technology and life sciences. Their investment platform focuses on software tools, artificial intelligence, machine learning, multi-omics, drug discovery, precision medicine, and tech-enabled services. The company targets Seed and Series A financing rounds with initial investments between $1M to $6M, while offering portfolio companies access to deep industry expertise, strategic guidance, and network connections across pharma, biotech, and funding ecosystems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Magnetic Ventures Investment Services Venture capital investment and hands-on company-building support for early-stage deep tech companies in life sciences, covering AI, ML, drug discovery, precision medicine, multi-omics, and tech-enabled services. Initial funding checks range from $1M to $6M at Seed/Series A, with reserved follow-on capital.
• Portfolio Companies Network

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio companies have secured major pharmaceutical partnerships including GSK deal worth up to $1.7B+ for Relation Therapeutics
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and major.

• NovartisflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 December 2025Portfolio company Relation Therapeutics entered its second major pharmaceutical partnership with Novartis for allergic diseases. The deal includes $55M upfront payment and potential milestones totaling over $1.7B, focusing on atopic conditions such as asthma and dermatitis using AI-driven drug discovery.
• RochemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2025Paradigm partnered with Roche to use AI to enroll clinical trials. Paradigm's platform leverages OpenAI's API to improve patient access to clinical trials with 10% better accuracy than cutting-edge ML models and requiring 90% less expert clinician time.
• ParexelmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 October 2025Weave Bio announced a strategic partnership with Parexel, a leading CRO, following its $20M Series A funding. The partnership builds on Weave Bio's AI-native regulatory platform for pharmaceutical industry regulatory workflow management.
• GSKflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 December 2024Portfolio company Relation Therapeutics entered a landmark partnership with GSK to identify targets for fibrotic diseases and osteoarthritis. The deal includes $45M upfront ($15M equity + $30M collaboration), up to $63M in success-based payments, and potential milestones averaging $300M per target plus royalties. This is described as the largest deal for a seed-stage TechBio company.
• Bristol Myers SquibbmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 October 2023Paradigm partnered with Bristol Myers Squibb for a clinical trial operational model and to accelerate trial enrollment. BMS tapped Paradigm to change cancer trial paradigm and accelerate enrollment.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Civilization Ventures: Early-stage VC exclusively focused on TechBio and digital health at the intersection of biology, computation, and engineering. Closely comparable to Magnetic in thesis, stage, and the founder profile they back.
• Lux Capital: Early-stage VC investing at the intersection of science, technology, and biology. Comparable to Magnetic in thesis (frontier tech meets life sciences), stage focus (seed/Series A), and high-conviction approach, with a similarly small, specialist team.
• Atlas Venture: Early-stage life sciences VC that builds biotech companies from inception. Comparable to Magnetic in stage focus (seed/Series A) and willingness to support founders through company formation, with deeper experience in traditional biotech categories.
• Section32: Early-stage venture fund focused on technology-enabled healthcare and life sciences. Highly comparable to Magnetic in stage focus, sector specialization, and check size, making it a direct peer for AI/TechBio seed deals.
• Catalio Capital Management: Specialist investment firm focused on biomedical and healthcare technology companies across stages. Overlaps with Magnetic on AI-driven drug discovery, genomics, and computational biology seed/Series A opportunities.
• DCVC (Data Collective): Deep-tech/science-focused early-stage VC that co-invests with Magnetic in multiple portfolio companies (Relation Therapeutics, Proxima). Both firms target Seed/Series A at the intersection of computational technology and life sciences, making them natural co-investment partners and direct category competitors.
• Braidwell: Healthcare and life sciences-focused investment firm that co-invests alongside Magnetic in companies like Proxima. Comparable stage and sector focus, with similar emphasis on deep tech-bio convergence.

Broad incumbents

• Khosla Ventures: Large, established early-stage VC with deep presence in both frontier tech and biotech/healthcare. Competes with Magnetic for AI-biotech founders at seed/Series A but writes much larger checks and offers broader platform support.
• ARCH Venture Partners: Pioneer in early-stage life sciences and deep-tech investing with multi-billion-dollar funds. Competes for the same TechBio seed/Series A deals but with longer track record, larger checks, and deeper pharma partnership networks.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Bio): Mega-fund with dedicated a16z Bio franchise investing across healthcare and life sciences at all stages. Directly competes for TechBio founders but with substantially more capital, brand, and platform resources than Magnetic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/about

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments22 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Magnetic Ventures