Industry veterans Alexis Borisy and Zach Weinberg had plenty of reasons to celebrate their new venture’s first success story.
In November 2023, a small biotech called Forward Therapeutics became the first company to graduate from their startup accelerator, Curie.Bio. The accelerator had opened its doors less than a year prior, and this first launch was sign their program worked: Forward had come out the other side with enough promising data — and three drug candidates — to raise a $50 million Series A round. The biotech’s valuation had jumped five-fold between those financings, according to Weinberg. (Pitchbook now estimates the company is worth around $150 million.)
But Curie’s executives were left with a nagging question: Why hadn’t they invested in the Series A round? They knew the science, they knew the team, and — thanks to a provision in their earlier term sheet — they had a guaranteed spot in the financing round, if they wanted it. The only thing Curie didn’t have was the money.
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