Carlo Rizzuto is a PhD virologist turned venture capitalist at Versant Ventures who discovered and championed the emerging field of epitranscriptomics, helping recognize its drug-development potential early and backing Gotham Therapeutics as one of the first VCs in this RNA-modification space. Beyond investing, he frequently serves as acting CEO or Chief Business Officer at portfolio companies during their formation, taking a hands-on company-building approach while specializing in creating first-wave companies around cutting-edge biology platforms before others enter the field.
About their Fund
Versant Ventures
Sectors
Biotech, Health, Medtech
Rounds
Series A
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$100K - $5M
Notable Investments
Versant operates its own discovery labs (called Ridgeline in Basel and Highline in New York) where in-house scientists work to turn academic research into fully formed biotech companies, creating about half of its portfolio companies from scratch rather than just investing in existing startups. The firm seeds these new companies with tens of millions of dollars—significantly more than typical in regions like Europe—and re-runs key experiments independently before fully committing, importing big-pharma discipline into venture-backed biotech.
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