F-Prime Capital

F-Prime Capital is the venture arm tied to the Johnson family of Fidelity Investments, with a heritage that spans more than four decades and roughly $4.8 billion in assets under management. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with offices across the US, Europe, and Asia, F-Prime invests across life sciences, healthtech and services, and technology, with a long history of company creation and seeding that has produced franchises including Innovent Biologics, Denali Therapeutics, Beam Therapeutics, and Ultragenyx. The firm is structured as a permanent capital vehicle, which gives it patience for biology timelines and the ability to follow companies from seed to public market without the pressures of fund-life timing. F-Prime has made 737 investments and acquisitions across its history.

The healthcare practice is the largest of the firm’s three sector pillars and runs through senior partners across both life sciences and healthtech. On the life sciences side, partners include Stephen Knight, the longtime managing partner who has anchored the franchise; Ben Auspitz, a partner with a deep biotech operating background; Caroline Stout, a partner focused on biopharma; and a broader bench across precision medicine, cell and gene therapy, and engineered biology. On the healthtech side, partners include Sanjiv Kalevar, who has led investments in clinical and operational software for healthcare providers; David Jegen, a managing partner active in fintech and adjacent infrastructure; and a healthtech team that targets enterprise software, AI applications, and tech-enabled services for providers, payers, and life sciences. Notable healthtech and services portfolio companies include Quanata, Devoted Health, and a roster of clinical and care-delivery software companies. On the life sciences side, F-Prime has been an early backer or co-creator of CRISPR base-editing platforms, immuno-oncology programs, obesity and metabolic disease therapeutics, and cell therapy manufacturing infrastructure.

Check sizes in venture run from $5 million at seed up to $50 million plus at Series C and growth, with the firm comfortable leading at all stages and frequently writing the first institutional check in academic spinouts or co-created companies. F-Prime’s permanent capital structure means it can hold positions across multiple rounds and can also participate in late-stage and crossover-like deals. Geographic scope is global with US, Europe, and Asia teams, and the firm has been particularly active in cross-border deals between Boston-Cambridge, Bay Area, London-Cambridge UK, and Shanghai.

Founders who should approach F-Prime include academic biotech founders with platforms or assets at the IND-enabling or early-clinical stage, operators building cell and gene therapy infrastructure, AI-native drug discovery founders, and healthtech operators building enterprise software for providers, payers, and pharma. The firm is one of a small number that genuinely partners across both sides of healthcare under one roof, which is useful for hybrid companies. Founders building consumer wellness, pure DTC brands, or aesthetic-medicine adjacencies are not the right fit. F-Prime is also less active in Series B and C participation-only deals where it cannot earn meaningful ownership or board influence.

Entry path is best through academic and operating networks, given the firm’s tight integration with the Boston-Cambridge biotech and tech ecosystems. Warm introductions from portfolio CEOs, scientific advisors, and the broader Fidelity-affiliated operator base are the most effective routes. F-Prime partners are at JPMorgan Healthcare, BIO, and the major medical conferences, and the firm runs a public editorial presence on its website. Cold inbound through the website is read but converts at low rates without a credible referral. Diligence is rigorous and partner-driven, typically four to eight weeks from first call to term sheet, with deeper technical and clinical reviews for novel platforms.

In a pitch, lead with the science or the product wedge, the founder market fit, and the data. F-Prime partners are technically strong and will probe your IP, your translational data, your manufacturing strategy, and your regulatory plan. For healthtech founders, lead with the customer pain, the unit economics, and the enterprise sales motion, with a clear story on why your platform is defensible against incumbents and emerging AI-native competitors. The firm’s added value is best realized when founders use the broader Fidelity-affiliated network: relationships with public market investors, downstream pharma and provider customers, and the ability to bridge to crossover and IPO markets. Founders who think of F-Prime as a long-duration platform partner rather than a single round of capital will find the firm one of the more strategically useful tier-one investors across both life sciences and healthtech.