StaffPsychedelic venture capital firm Iter Investments has closed its successful round of funding on Fund I having raised over $20 million. The fund was launched in April 2021 with the goal of raising $20 million and is closing with over $20 million committed.
“Our mission has been and continues to be aiding entrepreneurs as they build great companies that use medical and scientific research to reimagine the health care industry’s approach to the underserved mental and behavioral health sectors,” said Robinson. “It has been a very successful year launching our initial fund and we have built incredible partnerships along the way. We are closely watching the emerging trends and research surrounding the psychedelics industries and are excited for all that the industry has to offer.”
Iter Investments said it has established an active portfolio of 16 companies with special access to several new investments on the horizon. Iter Investments’ portfolio consists of companies across the entire value chain, including suppliers of psychedelic active pharmaceutical ingredients, such as Psygen; drug discovery and drug development companies, including Psilera, Beckley Psytech, Clairvoyant, Reset Pharma, Apex Labs, Wesana, Awakn Life Sciences (OTC: AWKNF), and Freedom Bio; clinics including Awakn Life Sciences and Wesana; and technology and other supporting infrastructures, such as Tripp, aNUma, and Fluence.
The Fund I portfolio is also diversified across a wide range of compounds, including psilocybin, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT, MDMA, LSD, ketamine, psychedelic analogues, and new chemical entities, as well as a wide range of indications, such as alcohol use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cancer-related distress, depression, anxiety, gambling addiction, and behavioral health conditions.
Iter was founded by Dustin Robinson, the founding partner of one of the law firms in the psychedelic industry, in partnership with seasoned private equity investor Robert Velarde. Iter Investments has led several funding rounds and has a board seat on several of its portfolio companies. By taking board seats on several companies and deploying a diversified approach to its portfolio companies, the venture capital firm has been able to identify various synergies among its portfolio companies, proving Iter Investments to be a value-added investor for its portfolio companies.
Iter Investments also launched its own company Nucleus, which is a holding company for various media, data, and technology assets, including Psychedelic Invest, Neuly, Matter Academy, Psyrise, and Particles.
“We have seen an incredible amount of investor interest over the past year, and combined with the continued progress in R&D and clinical trials, confirms our view of the great potential for the psychedelics industry,” said Velarde. “We’re looking forward to continuing to serve the funding gap between psychedelic drug research and mass commercialization while aiming to offer portfolio companies what we consider to be expert guidance to support their growth and success.”
