The investors behind Massachusetts biotech’s $3.45B in H1 2026

Massachusetts-headquartered biopharma companies raised $3.45 billion in venture capital in the first half of 2026, up 25% from the same period in 2025 and the largest first-half total since 2023, according to MassBio’s 2026 Industry Snapshot.¹² The figures, drawn from PitchBook data, cover 101 funding rounds raised by 99 companies, up from 93 rounds a year earlier.²

That total was 25.0% of all U.S. biopharma venture funding, up from 22.5% in 2025. Only California, at 43.4%, received a larger share.²

Larger rounds, concentrated at the top

The average round for a Massachusetts-headquartered company was $34.1 million, compared with a national average of $21.4 million. The average Series A rose to $79.64 million from $61.68 million. The number of seed deals rose from 15 to 21, while the average seed round fell to $4.65 million from $7.65 million.²

The 10 largest deals accounted for 46.5% of all dollars raised. By location, Cambridge companies raised $1.629 billion (47% of the state total), Boston companies $908 million (26%) and Watertown companies $403 million (12%).²

Of the 20 largest rounds listed in the MassBio report,² these were the 10 largest by the amount each company announced:

Company	City	Round	Amount announced
Beeline Medicines	Boston	Series A	$426.3M3
Parabilis Medicines	Cambridge	Series F	$305M4
Diagonal Therapeutics	Watertown	Series B	$125M5
Create Medicines	Cambridge	Series B	$122M6
Tortugas Neuroscience	Framingham	Seed and Series A	$106M7
Cognito Therapeutics	Cambridge	Series C	$105M8
Kinaset Therapeutics	Medfield	Series B	$103M9
Stipple Bio	Cambridge	Series A	$100M10
City Therapeutics	Cambridge	Series B	$99.5M11
Memento Medicines	Boston	Series A	$93M12

Who invested, and what the money is for

Beeline Medicines. On June 30, 2026, Beeline closed a $126.3 million extension of its Series A, bringing the round to $426.3 million. The extension came from Bain Capital, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Bristol Myers Squibb, along with members of the company’s management team. The money will be used to advance several of the drugs Beeline has licensed.³

Parabilis Medicines. Parabilis raised $305 million in a Series F announced January 8, 2026, led by RA Capital Management, Fidelity Management and Janus Henderson Investors. The company plans to use the funds to advance its lead drug candidate, zolucatetide, a cancer treatment.⁴

Diagonal Therapeutics. Sanofi Ventures and Janus Henderson Investors co-led Diagonal’s $125 million Series B, announced January 8, 2026. Deep Track Capital, Atlas Venture, RA Capital Management, Frazier Life Sciences and Viking Global Investors were among more than a dozen investors. The financing is to take Diagonal’s first drug candidate into clinical trials in 2026.⁵

Create Medicines. Create announced a $122 million Series B on May 14, 2026, co-led by existing investors Newpath Partners, ARCH Venture Partners and Hatteras Venture Partners, with participation from Alexandria Venture Investments and other existing investors.⁶

Tortugas Neuroscience. Tortugas launched on April 21, 2026 with $106 million in seed and Series A financing. Cure Ventures led the seed round and co-led the Series A with The Column Group and AN Venture Partners. The company said the funds will support completion of Phase 2 clinical trials for its two lead drug candidates in neurology and neuropsychiatric disorders.⁷

Cognito Therapeutics. Cognito announced a $105 million Series C in March 2026, led by Morningside Ventures, IAG Capital Partners and Starbloom Capital, with Apollo Health Ventures, Benvolio Group and New Vintage participating. The funds will support the pivotal data readout for Spectris, its investigational Alzheimer’s disease device, preparation of an FDA submission, and planned commercialization in 2027.⁸

Kinaset Therapeutics. RA Capital Management and Forge Life Science Partners led Kinaset’s $103 million Series B, announced in January 2026. New investors EQT Life Sciences, Vivo, Schroders, Willett Advisors, Pictet and Sixty Degree Capital joined existing investors Atlas Venture, 5AM Ventures and Gimv. The funds will take frevecitinib, an inhaled drug candidate, through a Phase 2 dose-ranging study in severe asthma.⁹

Stipple Bio. Stipple came out of stealth on April 6, 2026 with a $100 million Series A co-led by RA Capital, a16z Bio+Health and Nextech Invest, with existing investors Emerson Collective Investments, GV, LoLa Capital Partners and GordonMD Global Investments. The money is to take its lead cancer candidate, STP-100, into early clinical studies and to expand its research platform. The company said the financing should fund it into 2029.¹⁰

City Therapeutics. City announced a $99.5 million Series B on June 8, 2026. New investors Viking Global Investors and Sofinnova Investments, along with Casdin Capital and NYBC Ventures, joined existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Invus, Slate Path Capital, Rock Springs Capital and Regeneron Ventures. The proceeds are to advance City’s RNAi drug pipeline and its RNAi engineering platform, and to support business development.¹¹

Memento Medicines. Memento launched on June 18, 2026 with a $93 million Series A co-led by Forbion, RA Capital Management and Avego BioScience Capital, with participation from Sanofi Ventures and Samsara BioCapital. Alongside the financing, Memento licensed worldwide rights to MMT-205, an antibody for retinal diseases, from MabTics and Curacle. The proceeds will fund IND-enabling studies of MMT-205, with clinical trials expected to begin in 2027.¹²

Investors that appear more than once

Across these 10 rounds:

• RA Capital Management co-led four rounds (Parabilis, Kinaset, Stipple and Memento) and also invested in Diagonal.^4591012
• Janus Henderson Investors co-led both Parabilis and Diagonal.⁴⁵
• Fidelity co-led Parabilis and was an existing investor in City.⁴¹¹
• ARCH Venture Partners co-led Create and was an existing investor in City.⁶¹¹
• Atlas Venture invested in Diagonal and Kinaset, and Viking Global Investors invested in Diagonal and City.⁵⁹¹¹
• Drugmakers and their venture arms took part in four rounds: Bristol Myers Squibb (Beeline), Sanofi Ventures (Diagonal as co-lead, and Memento) and Regeneron Ventures (City).³⁵¹¹¹²

Employment

The same MassBio report found that Massachusetts biopharma employment fell 3.1% in 2025 to 113,503 jobs, about 3,600 fewer than the prior year. It was the first annual decline in the more than two decades MassBio has tracked the figure. Biomanufacturing added 238 jobs over the year.¹

Sources

1. MassBio, “Massachusetts Biopharma Sees Strong Resurgence of Capital Even as Workforce Numbers Lag,” August 25, 2026. https://www.massbio.org/news/recent-news/massachusetts-biopharma-sees-strong-resurgence-of-capital-even-as-workforce-numbers-lag/
2. MassBio, “2026 Industry Snapshot,” August 2026, pp. 18–20 (data: PitchBook, July 2026). https://www.massbio.org/industry-reports/industry-snapshot/
3. BioPharma Dive, “Beeline Medicines Series A extension,” June 30, 2026. https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/beeline-series-a-extension-bain-bristol-myers/824091/
4. BioPharma Dive, “Parabilis Medicines Series F financing,” January 8, 2026. https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/parabilis-financing-zolucatetide-beta-catenin-cancer-drug/809079/
5. BioPharma Dive, “Diagonal Therapeutics Series B,” January 8, 2026. https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/diagonal-series-b-clustering-antibodies-hereditary-hemorrhagic-telangiectasia-pah/809012/
6. VC News Daily, “CREATE Medicines venture capital funding,” May 14, 2026. https://vcnewsdaily.com/create-medicines/venture-capital-funding/xwqzqsxmbm
7. Tortugas Neuroscience (Business Wire, via BioSpace), “Tortugas Neuroscience Launches with $106 Million to Advance Clinical-Stage Pipeline Targeting New and Major Neurology and Neuropsychiatric Disorders,” April 21, 2026. https://www.biospace.com/press-releases/tortugas-neuroscience-launches-with-106-million-to-advance-clinical-stage-pipeline-targeting-new-and-major-neurology-and-neuropsychiatric-disorders
8. HLTH, “Cognito Therapeutics raises $105M Series C led by Morningside Ventures to advance Spectris platform for Alzheimer’s,” March 6, 2026. https://hlth.com/insights/news/cognito-therapeutics-raises-105m-series-c-led-by-morningside-ventures-to-advance-spectris-platform-for-alzheimer-s-2026-03-06
9. EQT Life Sciences (PR Newswire), release on its investment in Kinaset Therapeutics’ Series B, January 12, 2026. https://tools.prnewswire.com/en-us/live/20823/release/20260112EN60942
10. Stipple Bio (via BioSpace), “Stipple Bio Emerges from Stealth with Oversubscribed $100 Million Series A Financing,” April 6, 2026. https://www.biospace.com/press-releases/stipple-bio-emerges-from-stealth-with-oversubscribed-100-million-series-a-financing-to-advance-stp-100-into-early-clinical-studies-and-advance-a-precision-oncology-pipeline-that-leverages-its-pointillist-platform
11. Pharmaceutical Executive, “Funding Roundup: City Therapeutics Closes $99 Million Series B,” June 9, 2026. https://www.pharmexec.com/view/funding-roundup-city-therapeutics-closes-99-million-series-b-eloxx-pharmaceuticals-pricing-66-million-public-offering
12. Memento Medicines, “Memento Medicines Launches with $93 Million Series A Financing to advance Tie2 Agonist and VEGF Inhibitor Bispecific Antibody Therapy for Retinal Diseases,” June 18, 2026. https://www.sanofiventures.com/sites/default/files/news/Memento_License_Series_A_Press_Release_final_ICR.pdf