BioFund - New Orleans BioInnovation Center

The New Orleans BioFund was created to support small businesses in the region looking to grow, create jobs, and contribute to the economic revitalization of New Orleans.

Capital is often difficult to obtain for small businesses and startups, which are high-risk ventures. The innovative BioFund program supports small businesses that may not qualify for traditional financing options. These investments help bridge a critical funding gap, thus allowing companies to better position themselves for growth and success.

The New Orleans BioFund operates in all industries, but places a special emphasis on biotechnology as a part of its mission. Furthermore, the fund is currently transitioning to a micro-venture capital model. This will provide startup investment options such as equity, convertible debt, and loan financing options.

The BioFund was kick started with funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Office of Community Development Disaster Recovery Unit to provide capital to startup companies looking to achieve growth, thereby increasing their potential for contribution to the economic development of Louisiana.

To date, BioFund Portfolio Companies have created or retained over 500 Full-Time-Equivalent Positions. The BioFund has now directly contributed $5 million to the local economy and has supported the creation of numerous long-term, high-wage job opportunities within and outside of biotech.

Notable Successes:

For startups like AxioSim, initial funding doesn’t come easy. That’s where NOBIC’s business support arm, the New Orleans BioFund, kicks in. The BioFund program helps growth-minded small businesses access capital when they may not qualify for traditional financing options. Founded a year after NOBIC in 2012, BioFund sponsored companies, including AxoSim, have created or retained over 400 full-time positions.

Fluence Analytics, another venture out of Tulane, recently received a Series A round of funding from the BioFund. The company’s proprietary analytical tools deliver real-time monitoring and control of polymer reactions. Polymer and biopharmaceutical manufacturers use the resulting data for faster research and development, greater yields, improved product quality and reduced cycle times. The company was founded in 2013 to commercialize the technologies developed at Tulane.

The BioFund closed a deal in early 2013 with Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation, a social entrepreneurship accelerator & business incubator, in partnership with Green Coast Enterprises, a sustainable real estate developer. The capital the BioFund provided supported the furniture and fixtures of a new 10,000-square-foot facility that has transformed the formerly blighted intersection of Washington and Broad. Now fully outfitted, the incubator houses over 80 innovative companies. They are attracting new investment, tackling systemic social and environmental issues in the region, and creating sustainable jobs.

In early 2013, the Biofund partnered with Tulane University spin-out company Fluence Analytics (then called APMT). The capital then allowed Fluence to build and sell a lab-scale characterization instrument to one of its first customers. Subsequently, the company applied for and received an SBIR federal research grant in June 2013 for a lab technology targeted at protein characterization. Fluence also has an ongoing project with a large chemical company to develop proprietary online polymer reaction monitoring technology. Since being founded by Wayne Reed, Mike Drenski, Bill Bottoms and Alex Reed in 2012, Fluence has created nearly 20 new full-time positions.

To learn more, take a look at our one-pager or contact Kris Khalil, New Orleans BioFund Manager, at loans@neworleansbio.com.