# Astellas Venture Management

> Astellas Venture Management is a VC fund backing Biotechnology. See 71 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Menlo Park, United States
- Total investments: 71
- Last investment: Jun 2026
- Lead investor: 11%
- Last fund: Jan 2005
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- Website: http://www.astellasventure.com

Astellas Venture Management is a California-based financial organization that targets investments in the biotechnology sector.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Astellas Venture Management. Shizune tracks 7 team members at Astellas Venture Management. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/astellas-venture-management?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $10M–$65M |
| Series B | $12M–$50M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 40 | 56% |
| Health Care | 24 | 34% |
| Therapeutics | 22 | 31% |
| Medical | 15 | 21% |
| Pharmaceutical | 10 | 14% |

24 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series B | 17 | 24% |
| Series A | 16 | 23% |
| Funding Round | 7 | 10% |
| Series C | 4 | 6% |
| Seed | 3 | 4% |

8 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 31 | 44% |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 10% |
| Japan | 3 | 4% |
| Canada | 1 | 1% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 1% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ken Shimokawa | Senior Investment Director | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ken-shimokawa |
| Takashi Futami | Associate Investment Director | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/takashi-futami |
| Takatoshi Soga | Associate Investment Director | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/takatoshi-soga |
| Taro Masunaga | Investment Director | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/taro-masunaga |
| Kenji Yasukawa | President and CEO | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kenji-yasukawa |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SyntaxBio | SyntaxBio develops CRISPR/Cas9-based, genetic programming platform that converts cells into biological computers using DNA-based instructions that read like lines of code. SyntaxBio's platform can program cells without the need for consistent external intervention. | $14.4M | Series A | Jun 21, 2026 |  |
| Restore Vision | Restore Vision is a biotechnology company developing a visual restoration gene therapy for retinitis pigmentosa. Restore Vision develops eye disease therapeutic agents. | $8.2M | Series B | Apr 15, 2026 |  |
| Sidewinder Therapeutics | Sidewinder Therapeutics develops bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) aimed at treating solid tumors. Their mission is to create life-saving therapies through precision therapeutics. | $137M | Series B | Apr 08, 2026 |  |
| Solu Therapeutics | Solu Therapeutics is a precision-medicine-focused company developing therapeutics to eliminate disease-driving cells. | $41M | Series A | Apr 09, 2025 |  |
| SyntaxBio | SyntaxBio develops CRISPR/Cas9-based, genetic programming platform that converts cells into biological computers using DNA-based instructions that read like lines of code. SyntaxBio's platform can program cells without the need for consistent external intervention. |  | Seed | Sep 17, 2024 |  |
| PhoreMost | PhoreMost is a new-model drug discovery company based in Cambridge, UK: Using its core expertise to open up new ‘druggable’ target space and working with a global network of co-invested academic and industrial collaboration partners, we aim to bring a wide array of novel ‘targeted’ therapies more efficiently to market and pass these cost savingsonto patients. | $12M | Series B | Sep 12, 2024 |  |
| NeoPhore | NeoPhore is a provider of novel small molecule therapies intended to treat cancer through stimulation of the immune system.The company's small molecule therapies target genetic mechanisms in order to create neoantigen which is known to stimulate the immune system and potentially be a weak spot in a tumor cell's defense mechanisms,enabling cancer patients to get treated and achieve improved clinical outcomes. | $12.2M | Series B | Feb 01, 2024 |  |
| Shinobi Therapeutics | Shinobi Therapeutics is a biotechnology business that is working on a novel class of immune-evasive iPSC-derived cell treatments. | $51M | Series A | Dec 12, 2023 |  |
| Mogrify | Mogrify® has developed a proprietary suite of platform technologies that utilize a systematic big-data approach to direct cellular reprogramming (Rackham et al., Nature Genetics, 2016) and the maintenance of cell identity (Kamaraj et al., Cell Systems 2020). The platforms, MOGRIFY® and epiMOGRIFY®, developed over a 12-year period via amulti-national research collaboration, deploy next-generation sequencing, gene regulatory and epigenetic network data to enable the prediction of the transcription factors and growth factors required to produce any target human cell type from any source human cell type.The platforms can be used to enhance existing stem-cell forward programming methods, or bypass development pathways altogether, affecting a direct transdifferentiation between a mature cell type to another mature cell type.Mogrify is applying its proprietary and award-winning platforms to generate the functional cell types required to transform the lives of patients, by delivering a novel class of in vivo reprogramming therapies across ophthalmology, otology, metabolic and other areas of degenerative disease.Uniquely positioned to address a regenerative medicine market estimated to be worth $150 billion USD by 2028, Mogrify is commercializing its technology via a combination of in vivo reprogramming therapy development, co-development partnerships, as well as the exploitation of the platform in other therapeutic and non-therapeutic applications. | $10M | Series A | Oct 02, 2023 |  |
| Solu Therapeutics | Solu Therapeutics is a precision-medicine-focused company developing therapeutics to eliminate disease-driving cells. | $31M | Seed | Aug 01, 2023 |  |

10 of 71 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [MPM Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mpm-capital) — VC Fund, 14 deals together
- [Novartis Venture Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/novartis-venture-fund) — VC Fund, 14 deals together
- [Longwood Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/longwood-founders-fund) — VC Fund, 10 deals together
- [OUP (Osage University Partners)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/osage-university-partners) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [Amgen Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/amgen-ventures) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Sofinnova Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sofinnova-partners) — VC Fund, 5 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Astellas Venture Management invest in?

Astellas Venture Management invests primarily in Biotechnology, Health Care and Therapeutics startups, most often at Series B and Series A stage. Most of the 71 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Astellas Venture Management's check size?

Astellas Venture Management typically joins rounds of $10M–$65M at Series A and $12M–$50M at Series B. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Astellas Venture Management participates in.

### How do I contact Astellas Venture Management?

Public channels for Astellas Venture Management include the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Astellas Venture Management?

The team at Astellas Venture Management includes Ken Shimokawa (Senior Investment Director), Takashi Futami (Associate Investment Director) and Takatoshi Soga (Associate Investment Director), among 7 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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