Today, we are joined by Tej Panesar. Tej is a Partner at Prism Ventures, the UK-based institutional investor focused on the life sciences and healthcare sectors.

Prism invests in the best-of-breed funds managed in the US, UK, and Europe through fund of funds and co-investment programs. He previously worked as an Investment Director at British Patient Capital, a UK government-backed institution very similar to the EIF and one of the largest investors in UK venture capital.

With +425M pounds invested in the UK and Europe, Tej led investments into famed firms like IQ Capital and SV Health. Tej and his team have a wide lens across the life sciences and healthcare industries but a strong focus on traditional biopharma and areas like tech bio.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction about Prism Ventures
00:03:55 - From Crowdfund Platforms to Venture Capital
00:11:09 - LP Perspective on High-Tech Work
00:14:50 - The Non-Binary Nature of the Life Sciences Sector
00:18:34 - The Exciting Opportunities in Biotechnology and Healthcare
00:26:28 - Adoption Challenges in the Health Sector
00:30:23 - The Value Equation of Learning Technologies
00:34:01 - Symbiotic Approaches in Life Sciences
00:37:50 - Focus on Life Science and Healthcare
00:41:36 - Investing in Europe vs the US
00:45:18 - Portfolio Construction and Diversification
00:49:18 - Building a Long-Term Institution
00:53:04 - Diversity and Culture in VC Firms
00:56:50 - Evaluating Team Culture and Portfolio Construction
01:00:29 - The Importance of a Viable Business Plan
01:04:04 - Scaling the Fund Size
01:07:48 - Investing as a Team