Raghu Kalluri

Raghu Kalluri is a chaired professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center and a leading exosome and cancer-biology researcher, with co-founder roles in early-stage biotechs spinning out of his lab. (Boston is the input city; he is largely Houston-based, but the network is national.) His angel pattern follows his science: biotech, pharma/therapeutics, and diagnostics, with small checks ($25k-$100k) at pre-seed and seed. Best fit: deep-tech, science-rich founders working in exosome biology, cancer therapeutics, or novel biomarker-based diagnostics, ideally with a real lab pedigree and a credible patent or IP story; bonus if there is an MD Anderson, Harvard, or major-cancer-center connection in the founding team. Honest read: a senior physician-scientist’s angel checks are about scientific validation and signaling, not deep capital; expect him to be hard to reach, slow to commit, and unlikely to lead. Entry path is LinkedIn (low hit rate cold) or a warm intro through MD Anderson, the Codiak Biosciences alumni network, or his academic collaborators. This is not the right check for digital health, devices outside oncology, or AI-first founders without wet-lab backing. If you get to a meeting, the bar is the science, and the conversation will be technical.