Millions of individuals world wide suffer from autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both in childhood and later in life, people and their families need higher detection, treatment and support solutions to assist them live with autism. However, until recently, this was not an area that startups and investors ventured into.
Autism prevention fund (AIF) was a pioneer when it was founded in 2021, three years after co-founder and managing partner Chris Male’s son was diagnosed with autism. The ambition of Male and others was to turn into “the investment and innovation arm of the autism community,” Male told TechCrunch.
Since then, startups within the neurodiversity space have gained momentum, as has AFI, which recently closed its first $60 million fund. For a first-of-its-kind fund, exceeding its goal isn’t any mean feat, especially in an especially difficult environment. (The original goal was $50 million.)
AIF is a VC fund, not a charity, and Male can also be vocal about this. “We work great with nonprofits and foundations and are very intentional about generating profits. […] Our goal is to deliver really big returns while revolutionizing the status quo in autism and everything in space through a venture capital model.”
AIF’s limited partners include Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Brian Jacobs of Emergence Capital Partners, and Bob Nelsen, co-founder and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners, who also serves on its advisory board. The man didn’t need to share his personal stories for them, but individual AFI supporters often have personal connections to autism.
However, institutional LPs reminiscent of investment firms Fairfield-Maxwell AND Trip also support AFI, “which obviously helped us a lot to achieve this scale,” Male said. This can also be one other signal of change. “Operators entering space are no longer just family members who want to help; it’s the really sophisticated business operators who see the opportunity to influence wholesale change, and that’s really cool.”
Wide portfolio
Some VCs wait for a full close to begin deploying capital, but not AIFs. Because he needed to prove himself and his thesis, he began investing from the first close. With 12 startups in its portfolio, it should begin raising a second fund in the following six to nine months, and Male is already reporting incoming interest.
The incontrovertible fact that AIF portfolio firms raised further rounds from other investors is a robust confirmatory signal. For example, CVS Health Ventures led a $40 million Series D extension round investing in startups within the healthcare industry Cornice in October. Other signals are harder to measure, but still essential. Male told TechCrunch that AIF has strong access even to oversubscribed trades, and even when its check is not the largest, there may be a way that it is a “mark of approval to the market and the community that this is a proven, well-run entity.”
AIF still has resources in its first fund to make “a few” more deals and further investments. After a number of “strong bets,” his wallet gives him the inducement to double down. Male also added that “there is a very high probability that we will exit the company in the next six months; so soon because we [starting deploying] in 2021”
AIF’s portfolio is already quite diverse, although its website groups firms into two categories: life sciences and data and technology-based services. It also expands beyond the U.S. with a consulting firm based in Germany Auticonwhich describes itself as an “autistic majority company” and a UK telehealth platform Healings. But now it should create further diversification, and not because there shouldn’t be enough deal flow or issues that might be addressed in autism alone.
Male said AFI’s decision to expand this system has to do with autism itself.
The definition of autism is so vague and broad that there really is not one [biologically precise] understanding exactly what is occurring, so to ensure that us to assist individuals and families, we want to broaden this attitude. It’s about behavioral and mental health, that is all, but through the lens it is also a broader health care issue. Social costs are currently estimated in trillions of dollars, and if the rise in disease rates continues at the present rate, social costs will amount to $15 trillion. Lack of labor and existence [un]ability to work is included. But it’s as if society is sleeping on this incredible crisis for which there may be currently no plan.
Growing awareness
The fund will now allow itself to take a position in “behavioral health data-driven platforms, innovative healthcare solutions, as well as value-based care frameworks,” and artificial intelligence “cannot be ignored,” Male said. It can even proceed to take a position in treatments for autism co-morbidities, reminiscent of gastrointestinal problems. And then there may be the “independence bucket,” whether that’s employment, financial independence, or housing.
The incontrovertible fact that independence is on the list is a reminder that autism is a spectrum that should be addressed and that there are business opportunities for startups that do not just concentrate on children.
One adult-focused startup, neurodiversity employment network Mentra, is backed by Sam Altman and others, but not AIF. There’s nothing unsuitable with that: Mentra has partnered with AFI-backed Auticon, and Male called the work they’re doing “amazing.”
The incontrovertible fact that AFI shouldn’t be one in all Mentra’s investors might be a very good sign: the space is becoming too large to seek out the identical VC across all cap tables. It can also be global, due to health technology Brilliant care raising 10 million dollars for autistic children and their families in Brazil.
When asked if there had been more momentum recently in creating an organization on this space, Male responded with laughter. Compared to 5 years ago, he explained, “it’s just nice to see the momentum and the change.” As the investing side also becomes busier, there’ll likely be more of them.
Credit : techcrunch.com
