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Benjamin Holmes, CEO at Nanochon, shares the state of fund raising in early 2025 with BoneChat

30 Mar 2025 · 1 min

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In this founder update, Benjamin Holmes, CEO of Nanochon, discusses the company’s recent fundraising activities. Over the past 18 months, slightly more than half of the capital raised came from existing investors who are re‑upping their support, while the remainder came from new investors. Holmes explains that Nanochon is targeting a $20 million Series A round later in the year, but larger, well‑known venture firms continue to say they need human clinical data before committing. He highlights a broader industry challenge: early‑stage companies struggle to bridge the “Valley of Death” between early development and the point where substantial clinical data makes them attractive to big‑check investors. Interestingly, some long‑time investors who previously deemed the company too early are now turning it down as “too late,” reflecting shifting timelines and heightened selectivity, especially for implant and hardware‑focused biotech ventures.

Chapters

Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I think we've done a good job raising capital, but it's really been a mix of new investors and old investors re-upping their support. And I actually would say that maybe, you know, a little bit more than half of the capital we've raised over the last 18 months has been through existing investors that are really excited about the progress we've made and wanting to re-up their investment. I think that, you know, the bigger VCs, we're hoping to maybe raise a $20 million Series A towards the end of this year. The bigger VCs that I've known for years, the household names in the space are all still out there, all still saying they're interested. But they're telling me the same thing that they have told me since I founded the company, which is they have to see human clinical data. So I think that companies are really kind of struggling to bridge this in-between gap of like the company being really early and then hitting that big value inflection point where bigger players will come in. But I think, I think again, as other people have said, they're, they're being really selective and kind of continuing to move the needle a little bit further, at least for, you know, implants and hardware and that kind of stuff. And so it's funny too, because I've actually, I've actually started to get turned down by investors because we're at the tail end of closing out this bridge round. I've gotten turned down by investors who for years told me I was too early. And they're saying, oh, you know, you're actually too late for us. Those, those kind of like marquee big check writers are still out there writing checks. It's getting harder and harder. To cross the Valley of Death, to kind of use that tired term.