STAT+: ARCH raises $1.85 billion fund, planning to back more big companies

ARCH Venture Partners, the venture capital firm known for helping to arrange huge financings for biotech firms, said Thursday it had raised $1.85 billion for its latest venture fund, called Fund IX.

The massive fund, one of the largest ever in biotech, comes nine months after ARCH raised $1.46 billion in April. An analysis from Pitchbook said that mega-funds — those collecting more than $1 billion — were becoming more common, representing 15% of the total number of funds through the end of September 2020.

Robert Nelsen, ARCH’s co-founder and managing director, said that the firm needed the money because of the “transformational deals” that its partners have been putting together. For companies such as Juno, the cell therapy company eventually sold to Celgene, or Grail, recently purchased by Illumina, ARCH itself put in money in the $100 million to $250 million range.

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