About The Fund
The Accelerator Fund makes early stage investments in life sciences located in western Pennsylvania, and outside the region. Sponsored and managed by the professionals of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), the Accelerator Fund is in the unique position of leveraging the talents and insights of those most closely aligned with western Pennsylvania’s robust reputation as an incubator for a new American spirit of entrepreneurial talent in biotechnology and the life sciences.
The Accelerator Fund provides life sciences companies with venture capital financing, which is the next step beyond capital provided by economic development organizations; friends and family; and angel investors. The Accelerator Fund, separate from but complementary to the PLSG, is building a portfolio of early-stage life sciences investments, primarily located in western Pennsylvania and spread across several life sciences sectors including therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, biotechnology tools, and healthcare information technology.
The Accelerator Fund represents a fundamental part of the PLSG’s commitment to generate long-term sustainability for life sciences companies with roots in western Pennsylvania. Accordingly, our portfolio companies benefit from our relationship with PLSG in the following ways:
- PLSG executives manage the Fund, affording investors with a quality of personnel and depth of domain experience that likely would be otherwise available only through significantly larger funds;
- PLSG seeks to de-risk companies for Fund investors by investing, with its own early-stage dollars, in companies before the Fund invests. Only companies that already have performed successfully using PLSG investments or have demonstrated their potential by going through the PLSG diligence process are considered for Fund investment.
- PLSG has already vetted companies that are a part of our portfolio through due diligence, mentoring through the PLSG Executive Program, and/or investments made through PLSG investment programs.
- PLSG’s commitment to generate long-term sustainability for PLSG portfolio companies while creating the best opportunity for returns for Fund investors.
Accelerator Fund executives have deep domain and Fortune 100 company experience, having worked with companies such as Johnson & Johnson; Bristol-Meyers Squibb, and Boston Scientific, among others. They also have prior experience working successfully with early-stage companies and in leading life sciences companies as CEOs or in other C-level executive positions. Each of the executives works with a particular vertical in our overall portfolio.