Immune Boost Capital

What Immune Boost Capital does

Immune Boost Capital (IBC) is a 501(c)(3) philanthropic venture fund that provides catalytic capital to founders and academic investigators developing early-stage autoimmune therapeutics, diagnostics, and enabling technologies. Founded in April 2026 as the venture investment arm of the Arthritis National Research Foundation (ANRF, established 1970), IBC targets the funding gap between academic discovery and venture-ready commercial development, writing exploratory seed checks of $100,000–$250,000, initial lead or co-investments up to $500,000, and selective follow-on catalytic top-ups intended to bridge teams to traditional Seed or Series A rounds.

IBC operates an evergreen fund structure that reinvests 100% of returns into the mission and charges no management fees or carried interest. Donations are processed under the parent ANRF's 501(c)(3) status and are explicitly charitable contributions with no financial return to donors. The fund's customers are early-stage founders, academic investigators and spinouts, and mission-aligned individual and organizational donors; deal sourcing is community-led, relying on ANRF's scientific network, word-of-mouth referrals, and inbound inquiries through a website pitch form, dedicated email, and phone line. There are no software products, platforms, or technology services — IBC's "product" is capital deployment and scientific partnership.

Leadership is centered on Fund Principal Dr. Sai Nandi (D.Phil. Biochemistry, Oxford; formerly managed $1B+ healthcare portfolios at AIG Investments; board roles at more than 10 biotech companies), supported by Board Chair Jeff Greenberg (Thermo Fisher Scientific affiliation), Venture Partner Schalon Newton, and Director of Operations Emily Stormoen (also CEO of parent ANRF). The organization is registered in California with a Los Angeles mailing address, employs 1–10 staff, and markets itself through its website, newsroom, and X (Twitter) presence.

Name

Immune Boost Capital

Legal name

Immune Boost Capital

Website

https://immuneboostcapital.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2026

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Immune Boost Capital is a 501(c)(3) philanthropic venture fund that provides $100K–$500K catalytic seed capital to early-stage founders and academic investigators developing autoimmune therapeutics, diagnostics, and enabling technologies, recycling 100% of returns into the mission.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Impact Investing

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAKAO

Capacity Building & Nonprofit Infrastructure Funders

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

SECONDARYHLAIACAB

Immunology & Autoimmune Specialty Pharmaceuticals

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals/Specialty Pharmaceuticals

Keywords

• Venture philanthropy
• Autoimmune research funding
• Catalytic capital
• Nonprofit venture fund
• Early-stage biotech investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: IBC operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit philanthropic venture fund. Contributions from donors provide immediate tax benefits and are recycled into investment returns for autoimmune research. Donations do not constitute securities or investment interests.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Immune Boost Capital is a 501(c)(3) philanthropic venture fund that provides catalytic investment capital ($100K-$500K) to early-stage companies developing autoimmune therapeutics, diagnostics, and enabling technologies. Operating as an evergreen fund, it reinvests 100% of returns into autoimmune research and accepts charitable donations from mission-aligned individuals and organizations.

Product overview

Immune Boost Capital (IBC) is a philanthropic venture fund, not a technology product company. It operates as an evergreen impact investment fund established by the Arthritis National Research Foundation, investing catalytic capital into early-stage autoimmune diagnostics and therapeutics. The fund recycles 100% of returns to accelerate innovation in immune-related diseases. No software products, platforms, or technology services are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Exploratory Seed Capital Catalytic seed investment of $100K-$250K for the earliest validation of hypotheses and generation of decisive data, targeting founders of early-stage autoimmune diagnostics and therapeutics.
• Initial Investment Capital Lead or co-investment of up to $500K for early-stage autoimmune companies, with the flexibility to syndicate alongside aligned venture capital and strategic investors.
• Selective Follow-on Capital Reserved catalytic top-up capital designed to bridge portfolio teams to a traditional Seed or Series A financing round.
• Charitable Donation Program Tax-deductible charitable giving program that funds IBC's catalytic investments; donations are processed under ANRF's 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and are not securities or investment interests.

Quantifiable outcome

• Initial and co-investments up to $500K; pre-clinical to IND-enabling stage
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 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.

• Arthritis National Research Foundation (ANRF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerANRF is IBC's parent 501(c)(3) organization and financial/scientific partner. IBC is operationally independent but guided by ANRF's experienced investors, scientists, and healthcare leaders. ANRF has been funding autoimmune research cures since 1970.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• LifeArc: UK-based medical research charity with a venture philanthropy arm making equity investments in early-stage therapeutics and spinning out companies from academic research. Comparable to IBC's mission-driven translational funding model, but operates primarily in the UK and is significantly larger.

Broad incumbents

• Michael J. Fox Foundation: The largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's disease research, including substantial investments in biotech companies and translational programs. Operates a similar disease-focused mission-aligned funding model but at much greater scale and broader scope than IBC.
• TB Alliance: Nonprofit product development partnership funding development of new tuberculosis treatments with philanthropic and public capital. Comparable to IBC in mission-driven, returns-recycled funding of therapeutic development, though TB Alliance operates more as a PDP than a venture fund.
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: The pioneer of venture philanthropy in disease-focused drug development, having funded CF therapeutic breakthroughs and reinvesting returns into further research. Significantly larger and more established than IBC, but operates on a structurally similar catalytic-capital, returns-recycled model for a single disease area.
• Medicines for Malaria Venture: Product development partnership that funds and develops new antimalarial treatments using mission-aligned capital from public and philanthropic sources. Operates a comparable catalytic-capital-for-therapeutics model, though focused on neglected tropical diseases and structured as a PDP rather than a venture fund.

Direct peers

• Alpha-1 Foundation: Nonprofit focused on Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency that funds research and has invested in therapeutic companies developing treatments for the disease. Comparable to IBC as a disease-specific nonprofit with research-funding and investment activities, though smaller and more narrowly focused than IBC.
• Harrington Discovery Institute: Funds academic physician-scientists developing novel therapeutics, with an accompanying investment arm supporting commercialization. Comparable to IBC's mission of bridging academic discovery to venture-ready innovation in therapeutics.
• Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation: Funds early-stage drug discovery for Alzheimer's and related dementias through grants and venture-style investments, with a focus on bridging academic discoveries to commercial development. Directly comparable to IBC's catalytic-capital-for-translational-science model in a single disease area.
• JDRF T1D Fund: The venture philanthropy fund of JDRF, investing catalytic capital in early-stage Type 1 Diabetes therapeutics. Operates on a near-identical model to IBC—mission-aligned, evergreen-style, recycling returns into further research—making it the closest comparable peer.
• Myeloma Investment Fund: The venture philanthropy arm of the International Myeloma Foundation, investing in early-stage multiple myeloma therapeutics and recycling returns into further research. Highly comparable as a disease-focused, returns-recycled philanthropic venture fund serving founders of early-stage biotech.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/immuneboostcapital

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

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Immune Boost Capital