Additional EMBL resources
Interview-based career profiles for this career area
Jordi Xiol, Senior Associate at Ysios Capital
A life science careers blog for early career researchers
This blog aims to inspire early career researchers exploring different career options. We provide interview-based profiles of life scientists working in diverse science-related careers and articles on a broad range of career-related topics, with new content added on a regular basis.
Venture capital companies invest ‘venture funds’ in start-ups. They aim to obtain a return on their investment when companies are bought or start to sell shares (called an ‘initial public offering’).
Venture capital professionals need to be able to identify and analyse relevant information and make / defend decisions based on this information. Venture companies with a portfolio that includes or focuses on life science companies employ life scientists for their critical thinking skills and for their ability to help assess the robustness of the science behind the business’ potential life-science-related product. Large pharma companies also often have their own venture capital departments that invest in startups. Additional opportunities also exist at other finance and investment companies with investment portfolios that include life science companies.
Possible tasks may include a subset of the following activities:
This information gathering often involves identifying and talking to relevant professionals and experts.
Roles in other investment companies may have similar responsibilities, but a stronger focus on assessing business information that might affect the stock price of their investments.
In our careers and skills survey, 6 venture capital professionals told us the competencies they use most in their daily work The most frequently selected competencies were:
It is possible to enter venture firms in a junior role, and progress upwards. Entry level roles may be called ‘associate’ or analyst. For direct entry, competition is very high. Those who directly enter this area generally can demonstrate an interest in the business side of science – they often enjoy following biotech news. Other relevant activities that can help you build your CV include:
Alternatively, gaining experience in an operational role in industry, business development, management consultancy or other relevant positions can provide experience that will allow you to enter at a higher level.
In our careers and skills survey, venture capital professionals frequently stated that they appreciate that their work:
Interview-based career profiles for this career area
Jordi Xiol, Senior Associate at Ysios Capital
For EMBL fellows
Within EMBL, further internal resources (e.g. recorded career seminars) can be found on our career exploration intranet pages.
For all career areas, we highly recommend first learning more about the careers using the resources above, then conducting informational interviews to gain further insights directly from former PhDs working in career areas that interest you.
Last update: November 2022