Boston VC shop Flagship Pioneering raises $824m with 8th fund

Life-sciences focused venture capital group Flagship Pioneering said today that it raised $824 million for its new Special Opportunities Fund II, which aims to support companies created by its Flagship Labs unit.

The funds join an existing capital pool of more than $700 million Flagship said it raised between late 2017 and 2018 to finance its in-house plays.

Investors in the new Special Opportunities Fund II include long-time limited partners, new institutional investors and family offices and follows the $285 million Special Opportunities Fund I which closed in 2016.

Flagship said that it has launched more than 75 ventures so far, deploying $294 million in capital last year. The VC group said that over the past year, it has launched five new companies, spun out four companies and has seen four of its companies launch IPOs.

“With each year of company origination, as we have honed our pioneering approach, we have steadily increased our capacity to launch transformative ventures. Our new fund will complement our origination capabilities with new capital to grow platform companies more rapidly. With a team of executives deeply experienced in conceiving, creating, building and resourcing new ventures, Flagship Pioneering possesses a unique model that combines scientific creativity, technological ingenuity, systematic entrepreneurship, and professional capital management in a single, integrated institution. Having closed a new, larger Opportunities Fund, we are significantly expanding our team of executive partners, as we provide additional growth resources to our ecosystem companies,” founder & CEO Noubar Afeyan said in a press release.