# MRL Ventures Fund

> MRL Ventures Fund is a VC fund backing Biotechnology and Therapeutics. See 53 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Cambridge, United States
- Total investments: 53
- Last investment: Apr 2026
- Lead investor: 17%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- Website: http://www.mrlv.com

MRL Ventures Fund is a VC fund in Cambridge focused on Biotechnology and Therapeutics. The MRL Venture Fund is the Cambridge, MA – based independent venture capital investment group within Merck Research Laboratories, the R&D division of Merck & Co., Inc. MRL Ventures creates and/or invests in seed and early-stage therapeutics companies, based on translatable breakthrough science, with the potential to deliver highlydifferentiated new medicines to improve human health.

## Contacts

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

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 27 | 51% |
| Therapeutics | 16 | 30% |
| Medical | 12 | 23% |
| Health Care | 12 | 23% |
| Life Science | 7 | 13% |

14 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 17 | 32% |
| Series B | 12 | 23% |
| Series C | 9 | 17% |
| Seed | 2 | 4% |
| Series D | 1 | 2% |

8 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 25 | 47% |
| Belgium | 1 | 2% |
| The Netherlands | 1 | 2% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Olga Danilchanka | Partner | 1 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/olga-danilchanka-e227 |
| Peter Dudek | Partner | 5 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/peter-dudek-08b4 |
| Reza Halse | Partner | 8 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/reza-halse |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ray Therapeutics | Ray Therapeutics is a biotech company developing optogenetic gene therapies for patients with blinding diseases. | $125M | Series B | Apr 21, 2026 |  |
| Therini Bio | Therini Bio is dedicated to the research and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of neurological diseases. The company's approach is based on novel findings by the Akassoglou lab at Gladstone/UCSF that implicate fibrin as a key driver of neuroinflammation. | $39M | Series A | May 14, 2025 |  |
| PAQ Therapeutics | PAQ Therapeutics is a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to restoring health and curing disease through autophagy, the body's most versatile mechanism for natural cellular degradation. | $39M | Series B | May 05, 2025 |  |
| ATB Therapeutics | ATB Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that provides novel therapeutic solutions and treatments for cancer patients. | $57.2M | Series A | Nov 18, 2024 |  |
| Axonis Therapeutics | Axonis translates breakthrough regeneration research to groundbreaking paralysis therapy, to transform the lives of spinal cord injury patients. | $115M | Series A | Oct 30, 2024 |  |
| Aktis Oncology | Aktis Oncology is a biotechnology company pioneering the discovery and development of a new class of targeted radiopharmaceuticals to treat a broad range of solid tumor cancers. Founded and incubated by MPM Capital, the company has developed proprietary platforms to generate tumor-targeting agents with ideal properties for alpha radiotherapy.Designed for high tumor penetration and long residence time, Aktis Oncology's molecules will quickly clear other areas of the body, thereby maximizing tumor elimination while minimizing the side effects of treatment. This approach would also enable clinicians to visualize and verify target engagement prior to exposure to therapeutic radioisotopes. | $175M | Series B | Sep 30, 2024 |  |
| InduPro | InduPro is a biotechnology company that specializes in protein therapeutics and cell-surface platform technologies. | $85M | Series A | Jun 13, 2024 |  |
| Insamo | Insamo offers the discovery of membrane-permeable & orally available cyclic-peptides which lies in its automated process of designing, synthesizing, and testing at an unprecedented scale. | $12M | Seed | Feb 21, 2024 |  |
| Eyebiotech | Eyebiotech is a vision treatment company that develops products to preserve, repair, and improve eyesight. The firm guards against sight-threatening eye disorders and developed the first anti-vascular endothelial growth factor medication for patients with age-related macular degeneration, allowing those with eye ailments to regain their eyesight. | $65M | Series A | Nov 14, 2023 |  |
| VectorY | VectorY is a fully integrated gene therapy company specializing in the development of novel therapeutics such as vectorized antibodies for both CNS and somatic disorders, with a particular emphasis on muscle diseases. It combines the therapeutic potential of antibodies and gene therapy to create long-term therapeutic solutions for large diseaseareas with significant unmet medical need.VectorY was founded in the Amsterdam Science Park in August 2020. | $138M | Series A | Nov 13, 2023 |  |

10 of 53 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [SV Health Investors](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sv-life-sciences) — VC Fund, 13 deals together
- [Atlas Venture](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/atlas-venture) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Dementia Discovery Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dementia-discovery) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Sanofi Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sanofi-genzyme-bioventures) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [AbbVie Biotech Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/abbvie-biotech-ventures) — VC Fund, 7 deals together
- [Amgen Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/amgen-ventures) — VC Fund, 7 deals together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does MRL Ventures Fund invest in?

MRL Ventures Fund invests primarily in Biotechnology, Therapeutics and Medical startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 53 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 MRL Ventures Fund?

Public channels for MRL Ventures Fund 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 MRL Ventures Fund?

The team at MRL Ventures Fund includes Olga Danilchanka (Partner), Peter Dudek (Partner) and Reza Halse (Partner). 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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