2016

Year in Review

Meet Our Team

We couldn't have imagined the growth the past 12 months would bring.

From new company creation to new venture funding to newly burgeoning sectors, 2021 was truly a banner year. Thousands of founders joined us to help catalyze the Founder-Led Bio Movement, we expanded our interest in crypto and Web3 with 11 new investments, and we continued to invest in inspiring founders spinning out of the university ecosystem. 

We feel grateful to be surrounded by such a supportive community, and we wish you and your families a happy and healthy new year!

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by the
numbers

Crypto

+ 11 investments

38%

Biotech

+ 7 investments

24%

Tech

Enterprise, Manufacturing,
FinTech & Consumer
+ 11 investments

38%

Pillar
Stats

Portfolio companies

78

Pre-seed / seed investments

68

First capital in

68%

New investments in 2021

29

Unicorns to date

6

$192M

In July, we closed $192 million of capital for Pillar III ($169M) and Pillar Select ($23M), our firm’s latest venture funds.

The added capital enables us to amplify our mission of building important, lasting companies — the future “pillars” of our economy. Pillar III will continue to invest in founders at the earliest stages, with a particular emphasis on biotech, crypto, enterprise SaaS and university spinouts.

The
Decentralized
decade

2021 has been a significant year for the crypto markets. Maturing infrastructure paired with broader market acceptance has helped drive values across the space to all time highs. At Pillar, we recognize we’re in a period of exuberance, but believe the ground under the hype represents a significant technological and cultural shift. The caliber of founders flowing into the space and the pace of building strengthen our conviction that the future is decentralized.

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Algorand Ecosystem
Non-Algorand
Raises
New in 2021
Flip to News
Flip to Founders

The Future of Biotech is Founder-led

There has been an incredible surge in technologies and discoveries in the life sciences, and a record amount of capital is now available to biotech startups. Yet, company creation has lagged. Ideas, technology, and investment capital are no longer the scarcest resources; the limiting reagent is founders.

Together, we have the power to provoke this change.

&
  • PathAI Andy Beck Co-Founder & CEO PathAI
    Founder-Led Biotech

    PathAI raises $165 Million in Series C Financing

    Led by Andy Beck and Aditya Khosla, PathAI creates AI-powered technology for pathology research in laboratories and biopharmaceutical companies. Earlier this year, PathAI signed a strategic partnership with Roche, to develop an integrated digital diagnostic solution for improved patient care.

    Read more
  • Asimov Alec Nielsen Founder & CEO Asimov
    Founder-Led Biotech

    Asimov

    Asimov is developing a mammalian synthetic biology platform — from cells to software — to enable biotechnologies with outsized impact, with an initial focus on gene therapies, cell therapies, and protein therapeutics.

    Read more
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Founder-led
Petri
Sustainability
Raises
New in 2021
Flip to News
Flip to Founders

Founder-led Biotech Summit

Earlier this year, Pillar’s Tony Kulesa published, The Future of Biotech is Founder-Led — a commentary on the changing early-stage biotech landscape. The post was a reflection on the work we’ve been doing at Petri for several years — backing PhD students and scientists at formation — and it struck a chord with the wider biotech ecosystem, catalyzing a conversation about founder-led companies in biotech. 

900

Summit Attendees

100

Pitch Competition
Submissions

1000

Audience-Choice Votes

$ 100 K

Non-dilutive grant funding

The spirit of community, possibility, and impact really shined through... a perfect balance between science and entrepreneurism.

Bram Frankel, The Abraham Group
Founder-led Biotech Summit Attendee

Thank you Pillar VC team for putting together such a meaningful session. I learned and felt connected with fellow biotech leaders

Danae Moya, DelphiStem
Founder-led Biotech Summit Attendee

Enterprise & Manufacturing

  • Desktop Metal Desktop Metal
    A new world of 3d printing

    Desktop Metal Acquires ExOne

    Led by Ric Fulop, Desktop Metal is a metal 3D printing company reinventing the way engineering and manufacturing teams produce metal parts. Desktop Metal acquired ExOne earlier this year to cement its leadership position in the additive manufacturing and 3D printing industry.

    Read more
  • Jellyfish Andrew Lau Co-Founder & CEO Jellyfish
    The Future of Work

    Jellyfish secures $31.5M Series B

    Jellyfish was co-founded by Andrew Lau, Phil Braden and David Gourley to drive engineering team productivity and align engineering resources with business priorities.

    Read more
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Enterprise
Manufacturing
Raises
Flip to News
Flip to Founders

Consumer
& Fintech

Craving for original digital and
IRL experiences

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All
Consumer
Fintech
Raises
New in 2021
Flip to News
Flip to Founders
  • Raise

    $10M

    Series A

    Knox provides a smart and frictionless way to turn a home into an investment property.

    Read More Read More
    Knox Financial David Friedman Knox Financial
    Knox Financial David Friedman, Co-Founder & CEO of Knox Financial

  • Waeve featured in Vogue

    Waeve was co-founded by Williams grads Mary Imevbore, Tiiso McGinty and Susana Hawkens to give Black women a place to buy beginner friendly and trend-forward wigs.

    Read More Read More
    Waeve Mary Imevbore Waeve
    Waeve Mary Imevbore, Co-Founder & CEO of Waeve
  • Raise

    $3.7M

    Seed

    Founded by MIT PhD graduate Suelin Chen, Cake is the leading platform for end-of-life planning, helping over 30 million people navigate death planning and services.

    Read More Read More
    Cake Suelin Chen Cake
    Cake Suelin Chen, Co-Founder & CEO of Cake

  • Conjure featured in Architectural Digest

    Conjure lets people who move frequently rent designer curated furniture. Available exclusively in New York City, Conjure was featured in Architectural Digest, Thingtesting and Domino this year.

    Read More Read More
    Conjure Daniel Ramírez-Yunqué Conjure
    Conjure Daniel Ramírez-Yunqué, Founder & CEO of Conjure
  • Raise

    $60M

    Operating Capital

    Led by Jeff Glass, Hometap provides alternative financing solutions for homeowners looking to tap into their home equity to liquidity without taking on debt.

    Read More Read More
    Hometap Jeff Glass Hometap
    Hometap Jeff Glass, President & CEO of Hometap

  • Sofar Sounds hosts concerts in intimate and unique spaces

    Sofar Sounds hosts concerts in intimate and unique spaces. Founded in 2009 by Rafe Offer in London and now led by Boston-based CEO Jim Lucchese, it has since expanded to over 400 cities worldwide.

    Read More Read More
    Sofar Sounds Jim Lucchese Sofar Sounds
    Sofar Sounds Jim Lucchese, CEO of Sofar Sounds

A growing
community

We were happy to find a way to gather safely with vaccinated friends to talk about life and leadership at The Exchange.

We were seeking human connection this year and felt fortunate for the chance to finally find safe ways to connect face to face.

While it’s clear that we’re all still spending plenty of time on Zoom, we were so happy to spend time with so many of you IRL.

A free virtual event spotlighting and supporting women and under-represented genders in bio.

Watch videos

90

In-person and virtual events hosted in 2021

We brought together 100 leaders from the Boston community for a relaxing two-day mountain retreat. Unplug. Unwind. Connect.

Learn More

20,000

People reached all over the world.

Frequency Bio is a flexible and free virtual program designed to help future founders explore launching a startup.

Apply to Frequency

5

Summits supporting first-time founders.

Petri makes pre-seed investments in companies developing at the frontier of biology and engineering.

Learn More

A week-long, free virtual summit convening founder-led biotech founders, PhDs, scientists, investors and leaders.

Watch videos

Founding
Pillar
News

We’re pleased to welcome our newest Founding CEOs: Chad Laurans (SimpliSafe), Lisa Dyson (Air Protein), Jennifer Holmgren (LanzaTech), Matt Kalish (DraftKings), Paul Lieberman (DraftKings), Bill Brady (Kula Bio), Andras Forgacs (Modern Meadow), Paul Bleicher (Optum), and Doug Cameron (Apeel) to the team.

View all Founding Pillars

Ginkgo Goes Public

Congratulations to Founding Pillar, Reshma Shetty and the entire Ginkgo Bioworks team on its $15 billion debut on the NYSE via SPAC.

Read More

Photo courtesy of Ginkgo Bioworks

Iora Health Merger

Congratulations to Founding Pillar, Rushika Fernandopulle, and Iora Health on its $2.1 billion merger with One Medical

DraftKings becomes the official sports betting partner of the NFL and MLB

DraftKings partners with the NFL and MLB as their official sports betting partner and is as one of nine platforms for NY Sports Betting License

Abridge
AceLab
Adaptilens
Alchemon
Algorand
Allma
Alloy
Amber Bio
AnyQuestion
Arvada
Asimov
BoolSi
Bump
Burn Ghost
C3
CacheDNA
Cake
CashEx
Catena Labs
Circle
Compound Foods
Desktop Metal
Edgewise
Emergent AGI
Everyrealm 
Fluent Metal
Galy
GRO Biosciences
Guardian Agriculture
Hellotickets
Higharc
Hometap
Jellyfish
JobGet
Kuebix
Kula Bio
Lamin Labs
Lightblocks
LightSource AI
Mana Interactive
Matterworks
Modern Synthesis
Molecule
Mount
Nabla Bio
Neural Magic
New Equilibrium Bio
OnDeck
Osteologic
Parrot AI
PathAI
PatientFirst.ai
Paymagic
PillPack
Pyte
Quadratic 3D
Range Biotechnologies
Reach
Reclaim
Rekener
Republic
Scripta
Shimmer
Simbe Robotics
Sofar Sounds
Sphere X
Tagg
Tezza
Thymmune
Ursa Bio
Verve Motion
Videa Health
Vitra Labs
Wild Microbes
Worldspark Studios
Yard Stick
Zapata AI
Zilla

Wishing you a happy & healthy 2022!

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