The Biotech Startups Podcast
🧬 Parag Shah - Part 2 | Scaling a Multi-Billion Dollar Life Sciences Fund | Culture, Capital & Entrepreneurship | The K2 HealthVentures Story
February 6, 2025
Part 2 of 2: Our guest today is Parag Shah, CEO and Founding Managing Director of K2 HealthVentures. K2 HealthVentures is an alternative investment firm that provides flexible, long-term financing solutions to innovative private and public companies in the life sciences and healthcare industries. Committed to making a broader impact, K2 also donates a percentage of its profits to support underserved areas in healthcare. Before founding K2, Parag was Senior Managing Director & Group Head of the Life Sciences practice at Hercules Capital, where he led the fund’s public offering and managed over $2 billion in investments. His deep expertise in life science and healthcare financing was further shaped through key leadership roles at Comerica, Imperial Bank, and BankBoston.Parag’s academic background includes a Masters in Environmental Policy & Planning and a Bachelors in Molecular Biology from MIT, where he conducted research at the Whitehead Institute. With 25+ years of experience at the intersection of science and finance, Parag brings invaluable insights for first-time founders, investors, scientists, and industry leaders navigating the complexities of biotech funding.
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Part 2 of 2: Our guest today is Parag Shah, CEO and Founding Managing Director of K2 HealthVentures. K2 HealthVentures is an alternative investment firm that provides flexible, long-term financing solutions to innovative private and public companies in the life sciences and healthcare industries. Committed to making a broader impact, K2 also donates a percentage of its profits to support underserved areas in healthcare.

Before founding K2, Parag was Senior Managing Director & Group Head of the Life Sciences practice at Hercules Capital, where he led the fund’s public offering and managed over $2 billion in investments. His deep expertise in life science and healthcare financing was further shaped through key leadership roles at Comerica, Imperial Bank, and BankBoston.Parag’s academic background includes a Masters in Environmental Policy & Planning and a Bachelors in Molecular Biology from MIT, where he conducted research at the Whitehead Institute. 

With 25+ years of experience at the intersection of science and finance, Parag brings invaluable insights for first-time founders, investors, scientists, and industry leaders navigating the complexities of biotech funding.

In this episode, you'll hear about:


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Find Our Guest, Parag Shah, at these links: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paragshah333/
https://k2hv.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

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Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ 

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
K2 HealthVentures: https://www.k2healthventures.com/
Hercules Capital: https://www.htgc.com/
Cooley LLP: https://www.cooley.com/
Life Science Cares: https://lifesciencecares.org/
Debt vs. Equity Financing for Biotech Startups: https://www.excedr.com/resources/debt-equity-options-funding-startup
Biotech Startup Fundraising: https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
Biotech Startup Support: https://www.excedr.com/resources-category/biotech-startup-support

People Mentioned:
Roy Liu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roy-liu-36a35/
Anup Arora: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anup-arora-368ba81/
Meghan FitzGerald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanmfitzgerald/
John Hale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hale-770158b/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:54 Early days at Hercules and the challenge of biotech debt
06:14 Scaling Hercules, taking it public, and leadership lessons
11:34 Public vs. private investment funds: Key trade-offs and pressures
19:18 Leaving Hercules, taking a break, and redefining priorities
25:35 Avoiding burnout: Balancing work, family, and entrepreneurship
29:04 How time and capital constraints drive better decision-making
33:52 Founding K2 HealthVentures and reshaping biotech venture debt
39:01 Evergreen investment structure and why it benefits startups
46:59 The importance of co-founders, team culture, and shared vision
53:32 Scaling K2, launching a foundation, and investing with purpose
01:02:24 Outro

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