Allos Ventures' $40 Million to Fund Midwest Startups

Emerging technology companies jostling for investors’ attention have a new object of affection: Allos Ventures.  With offices in Indianapolis and Cincinnati, the venture capital firm has a fund of $40 million and is currently looking for a handful of locally-based startups to lend backing to. Preferring that portfolio companies be located within driving distance of those offices, candidates would ideally fall between Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Nashville and Chicago.

The fund directors’– Don Aquilano, John McIlwraith and Dov Rosenberg – experience has shaped the areas the team is most interested in funding: software and technology-enabled business services, specialty healthcare providers, later-stage medical devices and diagnostics, and advanced manufacturing.

Although pharmaceutical and biotech companies will not make the cut, “we absolutely focus on healthcare IT, and what we would call technology-enabled business services,” McIlwraith said when asked for comment. “That’s a horizontal, but one of those verticals within it would be business services in healthcare space.”

Allos Ventures Funding Startups Early Stage Development

A recently closed fund, Allos’ second, followed the same path and targeted early-stage companies in sectors with the potential for profitable growth. The companies typically had raised seed money and were ready for their first round of institutional capital. Initial investments are usually around $2 million, with Allos leading or co-leading rounds between $3-6 million.

Cincinnati-based AssureRx Health received a portion of the firm’s first fund, totaling $11 million, along with three other companies. The bioinformatics company develops tests to help healthcare providers choose personalized medications, using gene therapy, for psychiatric patients.