
Investments
130Portfolio Exits
34Funds
9About RiverVest Venture Partners
RiverVest Venture Partners focuses exclusively on life sciences, in particular in the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries. RiverVest also invests in select later-stage life science companies to diversify risk and maximize portfolio returns. Since its inception in September 2000, RiverVest has raised 2 investment funds with total committed capital of $164 million, and supported more than 20 life science companies.

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Latest RiverVest Venture Partners News
Jun 5, 2023
OncoResponse – a clinical-stage biotech company advancing immunotherapies derived from the immune systems of Elite Cancer Responders – announced it has been awarded a $13 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The company also concurrently raised $14 million in new funding from existing investors, led by RiverVest Venture Partners and including ARCH Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, 3B Future Health Fund, Bering Capital, Takeda Ventures, InterVest and others. The CPRIT award and investment is going to support the advancement of OR502, a best-in-class anti-LILRB2 antibody poised to move to IND and clinical studies. And the funds from the existing syndicate will also support continued advancement of the company’s lead immunotherapy candidate OR2805, a fully human monoclonal antibody identified from an Elite Responder using OncoResponse’s proprietary B-cell discovery platform. OR2805 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial. KEY QUOTES: “We are thrilled to receive this recognition from CPRIT in supporting the potential of our immunotherapy candidate OR502. We greatly appreciate the additional support from our investors as we continue to make significant progress with our drug development efforts advancing immunotherapies derived from clues of Elite Responders. We are excited by the data generated to date supporting the ability of OR502 to modulate inhibitory macrophages in the tumor microenvironment and induce anti-tumor activity.” — Clifford Stocks, Chief Executive Officer of OncoResponse “We are pleased to support OncoResponse in their efforts to develop new and innovative immunotherapy treatments for cancer. The company has made significant progress in building their pipeline and we look forward to further insights from future clinical studies.” — John McKearn, PhD, Managing Director of RiverVest Venture Partners Trending on Pulse 2.0
RiverVest Venture Partners Investments
130 Investments
RiverVest Venture Partners has made 130 investments. Their latest investment was in OncoResponse as part of their Series D on May 5, 2023.

RiverVest Venture Partners Investments Activity

Date | Round | Company | Amount | New? | Co-Investors | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5/12/2023 | Series D | OncoResponse | $14M | No | 3B Future Health Fund, ARCH Venture Partners, Bering Capital, Canaan Partners, InterVest, RiverVest Venture Partners, Takeda Ventures, and Undisclosed Investors | 3 |
1/27/2023 | Series C | Alleviant Medical | $75M | Yes | Gilmartin Capital, Longview Asset Management, RiverVest Venture Partners, S3 Ventures, Shangbay Capital, TMC Investment Company, Undisclosed Investors, and Vensana Capital | 15 |
11/15/2022 | Series A | Bonum Therapeutics | $93M | No | 11 | |
8/16/2022 | Series B | |||||
12/22/2021 | Series B |
Date | 5/12/2023 | 1/27/2023 | 11/15/2022 | 8/16/2022 | 12/22/2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Round | Series D | Series C | Series A | Series B | Series B |
Company | OncoResponse | Alleviant Medical | Bonum Therapeutics | ||
Amount | $14M | $75M | $93M | ||
New? | No | Yes | No | ||
Co-Investors | 3B Future Health Fund, ARCH Venture Partners, Bering Capital, Canaan Partners, InterVest, RiverVest Venture Partners, Takeda Ventures, and Undisclosed Investors | Gilmartin Capital, Longview Asset Management, RiverVest Venture Partners, S3 Ventures, Shangbay Capital, TMC Investment Company, Undisclosed Investors, and Vensana Capital | |||
Sources | 3 | 15 | 11 |
RiverVest Venture Partners Portfolio Exits
34 Portfolio Exits
RiverVest Venture Partners has 34 portfolio exits. Their latest portfolio exit was Cardialen on December 14, 2022.
Date | Exit | Companies | Valuation Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model. | Acquirer | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
12/14/2022 | Acquired | 2 | |||
9/7/2022 | Acquired | 14 | |||
8/22/2022 | Acquired | 16 | |||
Date | 12/14/2022 | 9/7/2022 | 8/22/2022 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Exit | Acquired | Acquired | Acquired | ||
Companies | |||||
Valuation | |||||
Acquirer | |||||
Sources | 2 | 14 | 16 |
RiverVest Venture Partners Fund History
9 Fund Histories
RiverVest Venture Partners has 9 funds, including RiverVest Venture Fund V.
Closing Date | Fund | Fund Type | Status | Amount | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3/23/2021 | RiverVest Venture Fund V | $275M | 3 | ||
12/18/2018 | RiverVest Venture Fund IV | ||||
12/13/2016 | Archer Seed Fund | ||||
11/18/2016 | 3x5 RiverVest Fund II | ||||
5/5/2015 | RiverVest Venture Fund III |
Closing Date | 3/23/2021 | 12/18/2018 | 12/13/2016 | 11/18/2016 | 5/5/2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fund | RiverVest Venture Fund V | RiverVest Venture Fund IV | Archer Seed Fund | 3x5 RiverVest Fund II | RiverVest Venture Fund III |
Fund Type | |||||
Status | |||||
Amount | $275M | ||||
Sources | 3 |
RiverVest Venture Partners Team
13 Team Members
RiverVest Venture Partners has 13 team members, including current Founder, Managing Director, Thomas C. Melzer.
Name | Work History | Title | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Thomas C. Melzer | Founder, Managing Director | Current | |
Name | Thomas C. Melzer | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Work History | |||||
Title | Founder, Managing Director | ||||
Status | Current |