# Lurie Investment Fund

> Lurie Investment Fund is a VC fund backing Health Care and Biotechnology. See 10 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Chicago, United States
- Total investments: 10
- Last investment: Jan 2012
- Lead investor: 30%
- Last updated: Aug 2026

Lurie Investment Fund is a VC fund in Chicago focused on Health Care and Biotechnology. Lurie Investment Fund is the venture capital arm of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation specializing in venture capital and private equity investments. The firm seeks to invest in biomedical community, mainly in medical devices, therapeutics, diagnostics and services, nanotechnology, and MEMS technology.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Lurie Investment Fund. Shizune tracks 3 team members at Lurie Investment Fund. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/lurie-investment-fund?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Health Care | 6 | 60% |
| Biotechnology | 6 | 60% |
| Medical | 2 | 20% |
| Therapeutics | 2 | 20% |
| Medical Device | 2 | 20% |

14 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series C | 3 | 30% |
| Series D | 3 | 30% |
| Funding Round | 2 | 20% |
| Series A | 1 | 10% |
| Post-IPO Equity | 1 | 10% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kristopher Wood | Chief Investment Officer | 3 | — |
| Ann Lurie | Trustee | 0 | — |
| William White | Executive Vice President | 0 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CytoPherx | CytoPherx (formerly Nephrion) clinical stage medical device company addressing inflammation-based diseases and conditions. The company’s products are custom configurations of a proprietary selective cytopheresis-based inflammation modulating system. | $34M | Series C | Jan 04, 2012 |  |
| HandyLab | HandyLab is a medical technology company that develops and manufactures molecular diagnostic assays and automation platformsThe company’s proprietary platform reduces the time, cost, and complexity of testing while improving the quality of results. Using patented real-time microfluidic PCR technology, its products are positioned to decentralizenucleic acid testing.HandyLab was founded in 2000 and is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was acquired by Becton, Dickinson and Company in 2009. | $19.2M | Series D | Aug 05, 2008 |  |
| Aperion Biologics | Aperion Biologics is a clinical-stage medical device company addressing the need for alternatives to human-based grafts with animal-based tissue technology. It develops a technique to make animal-tissues usable for human applications without causing rejection. The core platform technology is an enzymatic stripping of the key carbohydrate antigensfollowed by a unique conversion process that both “humanizes” and sterilizes the tissues without affecting their biomechanical or biological properties. This tissue scaffold provides mechanical stability and function while being biologically integrated and remodeled. Aperion’s Z-Process of humanizing and sterilizing tissue can be applicable to a variety of tissues from orthopedic ligaments, bone, and meniscus to valves and vessels to soft tissue grafts for augmentation and repair.Aperion Biologics was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. | $12.4M | Series C | Jun 24, 2008 |  |
| CytoPherx | CytoPherx (formerly Nephrion) clinical stage medical device company addressing inflammation-based diseases and conditions. The company’s products are custom configurations of a proprietary selective cytopheresis-based inflammation modulating system. | $2.5M | Series A | Oct 22, 2007 |  |
| RenaMed Biologics | RenaMed Biologics a biotechnology company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of diseases associated with compromised kidney function. The company focuses on patients suffering from acute renal failure and additional indications where kidney function is compromised. It develops RBI-01, which utilizesphysiologically active human renal epithelial cells and administered ex vivo, to replace and maintain severely compromised, or lost kidney functions due to illness, or trauma. The company was founded in 1995 as Nephros Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to RenaMed Biologics, Inc. in 2005. RenaMed Biologics, Inc. is based in Lincoln, Rhode Island. | $40M |  | Sep 07, 2006 |  |
| Nanosphere | Nanosphere, Inc. is a nanotechnology-based healthcare company, making clinical diagnostic tests that are two to three times as sensitive as those commonly used in hospital labs today and much simpler, taking just hours rather than days or weeks to complete. The company's instruments, which use microfluidics to pull DNA and proteins from asample, detect genetic variations in blood that make some drugs more effective in some patients than others. The key is an array of gold nanoparticles studded with chemicals that capture characteristic proteins and nucleic acids from clinical samples such as blood. | $57M | Series D | May 16, 2006 |  |
| Optimer Pharmaceuticals | Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Optimer) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing anti-infective products. It has two late-stage anti-infective product candidates, fidaxomicin and Pruvel (prulifloxacin). Optimer's development efforts are focused on products that treat gastrointestinal infections, andrelated diseases where therapies have limitations. Its product portfolio includes Fidaxomicin, Pruvel, CEM-101, OPT-822/OPT-821 Combination Therapy and OPT-88. | $22.2M | Series D | Dec 14, 2005 |  |
| Palatin Technologies | We are a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted, receptor-specific peptide therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need and commercial potential. Our programs are based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin and natriuretic peptide receptor systems. Our primary product in clinicaldevelopment is bremelanotide for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction (FSD). In addition, we have drug candidates or development programs for obesity, erectile dysfunction, pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular diseases and inflammatory diseases. The following drug development programs are actively under development: | $22.7M | Post-IPO Equity | Jan 30, 2004 |  |
| Cernium | Cernium Corporation develops and delivers video analytics-enabled products. It provides Perceptrak, a video analytics software that integrates with various video management systems; ExitSentry, a monitoring system for airport checkpoints and exit lanes; and CheckVideo, an IP-based solution for alarm verification to incorporate video analytics. Thecompany also offers High-Density Analytics Server, an analytics software solution for enterprise video surveillance installations; and Edge, which embeds in various hardware devices. Cernium Corporation was formerly known as Ross Technologies. The company was founded in 1996 and is based in Reston, Virginia. | $2.8M |  | Jul 30, 2003 |  |
| Nanosphere | Nanosphere, Inc. is a nanotechnology-based healthcare company, making clinical diagnostic tests that are two to three times as sensitive as those commonly used in hospital labs today and much simpler, taking just hours rather than days or weeks to complete. The company's instruments, which use microfluidics to pull DNA and proteins from asample, detect genetic variations in blood that make some drugs more effective in some patients than others. The key is an array of gold nanoparticles studded with chemicals that capture characteristic proteins and nucleic acids from clinical samples such as blood. | $5M | Series C | Jan 06, 2003 |  |

10 of 10 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Apjohn ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/apjohn-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- North Coast Technology Investors — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Deutsche Bank](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/deutsche-bank) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- Albert Fried & Company — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Alexandra Investment Management — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Allen & Company](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/allen-and-company) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does Lurie Investment Fund invest in?

Lurie Investment Fund invests primarily in Health Care, Biotechnology and Medical startups, most often at Series C and Series D stage. Most of the 10 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact Lurie Investment Fund?

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 Lurie Investment Fund?

The team at Lurie Investment Fund includes Kristopher Wood (Chief Investment Officer), Ann Lurie (Trustee) and William White (Executive Vice President). 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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