Olympus announced today that it launched Olympus Innovation Ventures (OIV) Fund II, deploying $150 million for medtech investments.
This marks the second commitment to OIV, the Tokyo-based medtech giant’s corporate venture capital fund. It’s triple the amount issued in the initial OIV fund, which launched in 2021 with $50 million. The initial fund has made nine investments in areas like AI workflow solutions and medical imaging agents for cancer detection since its inception in October 2021.
OIV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Olympus Corporation of the Americas, plans to invest in promising medtech startups. Those companies receiving investments will focus on gastrointestinal (GI), urology and respiratory technologies. The fund seeks to invest in customer-driven solutions in medical devices, diagnostics and digital health.
Olympus aims for its fund to generate a pipeline of M&A opportunities, partnerships and valuable market insights. OIV is fund-agnostic, prioritizing early- to growth-stage companies globally. In addition to providing capital, Olympus intends to help the portfolio companies succeed through clinical and technical expertise, access to healthcare professionals and hospitals and the ability to launch and scale in the global market.
Cerity Partners Ventures, a firm specializing in corporate venture capital, will continue to manage the venture fund. Olympus expects Cerity to work closely with its senior executives in all aspects of operating the fund.
Commentary from Olympus, OIV and Cerity officials
Bob White, Director, representative executive officer, president and CEO of Olympus, said:
“Our expanded venture fund commitment reflects Olympus’ deep dedication to innovation and growth. By supporting visionary innovators and breakthrough technologies over time, we aim to accelerate solutions that improve patient outcomes and strengthen our leadership in MedTech.”
(Read more from Bob White on the future at Olympus from an October interview with MassDevice here.)
Gabriela Kaynor, executive officer and chief strategy officer at Olympus and chair of the OIV Investment Committee, said:
“With an additional commitment to corporate venture capital, we will continue to make investments in startup teams who are building unique solutions in endoscopy-enabled care. Olympus Innovation Ventures investments help accelerate our progress toward developing the endosuite of the future with capabilities for early detection, diagnosis, and advanced therapies powered by AI, robotics, and beyond.”
Kindra Tatarsky, partner at Cerity Partners Ventures, said:
“The Cerity Partners Ventures team is excited to continue working with Olympus, leveraging our collective technical strengths, industry relationships, and subject matter expertise to fund and support leading entrepreneurs. This fund will build on Olympus Innovation Ventures’ mission to be the partner of choice for innovators, creating a competitive advantage for their startups.”
