Today, we are joined by Tej Panesar. Tej is a Partner at Prism Ventures, the UK-based institutional LP & active 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.
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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
Q: Advice for a 10-year-old younger self.
Trust yourself. Keep doing what you’ve been doing. Follow your intellectual nose.
Have trust that everything will lead you somewhere exciting, a place that might not be obvious to you right now.
Q: What are your top tips for emerging VCs across Europe who are fundraising?
Stamina is key. Starting a new firm is incredibly difficult. It can take up to two years to see wether this thing works out or not.
So, have a lot of stamina at the personal level, financial back-up plans and strong conviction on your investment thesis.
Try to think about a 10-year plan for your plan.
How are you building out? Draw that vision and your journey, and how you are going to explain that to LPs who are looking for that multi-fund, multi-uear stable relationships.
As VC, our job is assessing and selecting investments.
Turn the lens on yoursellf. I often find people and firms that don’t do it, and they look to me to do it for them. Try to sit down and have an offsite. Get a whiteboard and take a honest look at youself, your team, your strategy and your firm.
Does it stack up? Would you invest in your next fund?
Q: What’s the most counterintuitive thing you’ve learned in venture?
First, biotech is supposedly to be a binary asset class.
I don’t think that’s entirely true. It’s an incredibly consistent and performing sub-asset class in venture. It’s not something that I had always known when I first came to the space as an LP.
Second. Emerging managers within VC is important and can never be forgotten. It should plan an important role in LPs portfolios that are looking at venture
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👋 Upcoming in-person events we’re hosting
There’s nothing we like better than getting Europe’s best and brightest together around good food, drinks and conversations that go truly deep.
Fund Modelling Workshop & Mixer | 11th of March | 🌍 London, UK | Join waitlist.
Fund Modelling Workshop & Mixer | 5th of June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany | Join waitlist.
European VC Awards | 4th of June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany | Get tickets.
📺 Virtual events we’re hosting
From time to time, a podcast is just not enough. Check out our roundtables and live events below.
Is Crypto Back? | Feb 15th 12 - 1 PM | Register here.
Speakers: Jan Baeriswyl, Founding Partner at Very early | Felix Machart, Partner at Greenfield | Anirudh Pai, Partner at Dragonfly.
Investing & scaling in Romania and beyond | March 18th, 12-1 PM | Register here.
Speakers: Bogdan Iordache, Founding Partner at Underline | Karolina Mrozkova, General Partner at Credo Ventures | Dan Mihăescu, Founding Partner GapMinder | Jakob Stein Investor at Creandum | Enis Hulli, Founding Partner at 500 Emerging Europe | Marius Istrate, ex-UI Path CPO & Chairman at TechAngels
🗓️ The VC Conferences You Can’t Miss
There are some events that just have to be on the calendar. Here’s our list, hit us up if you’re going, we’d love to meet!
0100 Conference DACH | 📆 28 - 29 February | 🌍 Vienna, Austria
Odense Investor Summit | 📆 13 - 15 March | 🌍 Odense, Denmark
0100 Conference Europe | 📆 16 - 18 April | 🌍 Amsterdam, NL
SuperVenture | 📆 4 - 6 June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany
Nordic LP Forum & TechBBQ | 📆 September | 🌍 Copenhagen, Denmark
North Star & GITEX Global | 📆 14 - 18 Oct | 🌍 Dubai, UAE
GITEX Europe 2025 | 📆 23 - 25 May 2025 | 🌍 Berlin, Germany
On LP Investing in life sciences with Tej Panesar, Partner at Prism Ventures