Atlas is closing this fund amid one of the most severe biotech downturns in years, a retrenchment that’s constrained the options of private drug companies seeking to make the jump to public markets. Few biotechs are now pricing initial public offerings, breaking sharply with the pattern of the past few years, which featured record numbers of early-stage startups going public at high-dollar valuations.
But for companies just starting out, there is still large amounts of cash available elsewhere. Many venture capital firms that specialize in creating new biotechs raised new funds in 2020 and 2021. With this latest fund, Atlas joins Arch Venture Partners, Versant Ventures and Flagship Pioneering in closing funds since the COVID-19 pandemic
