Boost Your Life Science Funding with a Stronger Pipeline

Your startup can stall if it doesn’t secure the right funding at the right time. That’s why every founder in life science and biotech startups needs to approach fundraising strategically.

This means treating fundraising as a pipeline process, not a scattershot pursuit. Just like in sales or business development, success comes from qualifying leads, understanding timing, and staying organized. In this blog, we’ll walk through how to master your fundraising pipeline and get on a path toward life science startup success.

🔬 Learn more about investor engagement strategies for life science startups 

Essential Steps to Secure Life Science Funding

Not every venture capital (VC) funding source is a good fit, and chasing the wrong ones can waste valuable time and energy. A disciplined fundraising strategy begins by identifying your ideal investor profile — and then qualifying leads based on how closely they match that profile.

🔬 Read more about funding options for biotech startups

Define Fit Criteria

Mastering your life science fundraising strategy begins by identifying the fit of your startup. Here are some steps you can take to see if it’s the right fit:

1. Start by identifying the fundamentals: your stage and your sector. Are you raising a pre-seed round based on a concept, or do you already have preclinical or Phase I data? Are you building a therapeutic, a diagnostic, a research tool, or a digital health platform? These factors will immediately narrow the field — not every VC backs every type of company, and many specialize in specific modalities or development stages. Don’t waste your time on sources that are not geared to invest in you.

2. Consider fund size and typical check size. If you're raising a $2 million round and a firm usually writes $15 million checks, they may see you as too early. Conversely, if you're seeking $20 million and their average investment is $500K, they may not be able to lead or even meaningfully participate. Matching check size ensures you're not wasting time with misaligned expectations.

3. Look beyond the numbers to evaluate fit in philosophy and style. Some VCs are hands-on and operationally involved; others are more passive or financially driven. Some firms bring deep scientific and regulatory expertise, while others take a broader tech-focused approach. You're not just looking for capital — you're looking for long-term partners who align with your mission, understand your space, and can help you navigate the unique challenges of building in life sciences.

🔬Learn more about Innovative Funding Strategies for Life Science Startups

Use a Grading Framework

Some founders use an “A, B, C” system to score investor leads and prioritize outreach. It’s a simple but effective framework that helps you focus your time and energy on the investors most likely to fund your life science startup:

• A leads check all your boxes: they’re an ideal fit in terms of your startup’s stage, sector, geographic location, check size, and value-add (such as scientific expertise, regulatory experience, or strong industry connections). These are the investors who are most likely to engage seriously and move quickly if there’s mutual interest.
• B leads meet many, but not all, of your criteria. Maybe they’re geographically close and aligned on check size, but focus more on medtech than biotech. These leads are still worth nurturing, especially if you plan to raise future funds where the fit could improve.
• C leads are low fit: they may be completely outside your sector, invest at the wrong stage, or lack alignment in vision or investment thesis. While it can be tempting to pitch anyone who shows interest, time spent on C leads often results in low ROI and unnecessary distractions.
  

By scoring your investor pipeline this way, you can work smarter, not harder. It helps ensure you’re spending your limited bandwidth cultivating the right relationships and preparing tailored pitches that resonate with the investors most likely to back your venture. 

In a competitive life science funding landscape, this kind of discipline is key to building momentum, closing your round faster, and ultimately bringing your science to market.

🔬 Read more about where to find life sciences investors

Understanding Fund Vintage

Finding an investor that is a good fit and aligns with your stage, sector, fund size, and management philosophy is critical, but one of the most overlooked but crucial factors in fundraising is fund vintage, or the year a VC fund was raised. A fund’s age determines where it is in its lifecycle, which dramatically influences how actively it invests.

The Three Phases of a Fund

To understand how fund vintage affects a VC's behavior, it helps to look at the typical lifecycle of a fund. Most venture capital funds follow a predictable arc from active investing to portfolio management and eventual exit. Where a fund sits in this timeline can tell you a lot about whether they’re likely to be writing new checks, or simply managing existing ones.

1. Investment Period (Years 1–4): In the early years, VCs are actively deploying capital. This is when they’re taking new meetings, leading rounds, and building portfolios.
2. Follow-On and Management (Years 5–7): At this stage, most of the fund has been allocated. The firm may still write follow-on checks for existing companies, but new investments are rare.
3. Harvesting and Exit Focus (Years 8+): The fund shifts focus to managing and exiting existing investments including M&A, IPOs, and returns to LPs. Little to no new investing occurs.

🔬 Read more about angel websites to find investors for your startup

Using Fund Vintage to Maximize Timing

By knowing the three phases of a fund that are generally predictable you can maximize your ability to secure venture capital life science funding by factoring in fund vintage timing. If you’re talking to a fund that was raised 6-8 years ago and hasn’t raised a new one since, it’s likely “out of cycle.” They may still take meetings, but they’re less likely to lead or invest.

Conversely, if a firm just raised a fresh fund this year, they’re eager for deals and more open to new opportunities. This is a green light.

🔬 Learn more about understanding your initial small business funding round

Build a Tracking Spreadsheet

Once you’ve defined your fit criteria and assessed fund vintage, the next step is to build a tracking spreadsheet, or a central command center for your fundraising process.

🔬 Read more about understanding your audience when developing a life science startup pitch

Key Components to Include

This spreadsheet becomes your playbook. You can filter by A leads, sort by next action date, or track who’s gone cold. Most importantly, it helps you maintain a steady cadence without losing track of conversations or opportunities. Consider watching this ULP webinar to see an example of an expanded spreadsheet in real time.

🔬 Learn more about the right time to seek funding for startups in biotech

A Strategic Approach to Life Science Funding

Successful life science funding requires a targeted, strategic execution. By qualifying VC leads, understanding where they are in their fund lifecycle, and staying organized with a custom tracking tool, you take control of the process and minimize wasted time.

This approach also allows you to bring more structure to your conversations. You’ll be able to speak the language of VCs by referencing fund vintage or thesis alignment, set expectations around timelines and ownership of next steps, and re-engage VCs later when their fund or focus shifts.

Most importantly, this system allows you to treat life science fundraising like a sales pipeline — with leads, qualifications, conversion points, and follow-ups.

Great life science fundraising isn’t just about your pitch itself. Rather, it’s also about who you pitch, when, and how you track your momentum. Life science startups face a long and often capital-intensive path. By building a disciplined system to manage your investor relationships, you set yourself up for clarity, confidence, and success in every fundraising round.

Visit University Lab Partners for more resources and guidance in effectively tracking and measuring your life science funding progress for your startup.