ExploreBio is a pre-seed-investment vehicle targeted at funding early-stage biotechnology companies and providing management services for proof-of-concept experiments in biotechnology. Incubated companies will also be given the opportunity to work at Merck's BioIncubator facilities in Yavne.

The 20-million-value initiative is a partnership between the strategic corporate venture capital arm of Merck and other three investors: Arkin Holdings, Pontifax, and the China-based international company WuXi ApptecWuxi App, an R&D services subcontractor with an active branch in Israel.

The firm enables accelerated founding of companies too early for normal venture capital investment. The aim is to give entrepreneurs the benefit of the consortium's experience in founding companies, not only providing capital but also structuring and de-risking breakthrough discoveries by accelerating their development to proof of concept. The added benefit for the entrepreneur is the hands-on support and automated syndication of risky opportunities, which comes with access to quicker and easier follow-on capital after having reached the proof-of-concept stage.

ExploreBio aims to invest 1 million to 1.5 million per company across up to four investments per year over a period of five years.

And much more...