DURHAM – Hatteras Venture Partners has held the first close of a fund targeting $100 million and revived its startup-creation strategy as the health care investor expands support for companies from formation through later-stage growth.
The Research Triangle Park firm announced the changes Sept. 30. Hatteras said the first closing of Hatteras Opportunity Fund II lifted its capital under management above $1 billion. The firm did not disclose how much the fund secured at the first close.
The new fund is targeting $100 million in total commitments. Hatteras said it plans to make concentrated follow-on investments in selected portfolio companies approaching clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones. The target is not the amount disclosed as closed.
Hatteras also is restarting its Hatteras Discovery company-creation strategy. The firm said the program will evaluate seed-stage discoveries from academic and industry relationships, form companies around selected programs and help accelerate their development.
The original Hatteras Discovery initiative launched in 2012 and seeded 11 companies, according to the firm. Hatteras said those companies contributed to public listings, acquisitions and two medicines that won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
Norman “Ned” Sharpless joined the firm as managing director of Hatteras Discovery Innovation. Hatteras identifies Sharpless as a former director of the National Cancer Institute, former acting FDA commissioner and co-founder of G1 Therapeutics. Andrew Witty, a former chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline and UnitedHealth Group, was named chairman of Hatteras Venture Partners.
Endpoints News and Triangle Business Journal independently reported the leadership additions and the firm’s renewed push to create and support health care startups. Triangle Business Journal described the move as an effort to back more promising companies in the Triangle and beyond.
The announcement does not identify the fund’s limited partners, the amount secured at first close, an investment timetable, specific new portfolio companies or a North Carolina job count. The measurable state business consequence is an expanded capital and company-building platform at a Durham-area venture firm focused on biotechnology, medical devices and health technology.