[News Inside Companies] Yosemiti, the Cancer Treatment VC Founded by Steve Jobs' Son

Yosemite is a venture capital (VC) firm specializing in cancer drug development, founded last month by Reed Jobs, the son of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The company name is derived from Yosemite National Park, located in the western Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, USA. This place is where Steve Jobs and Laurene Powell Jobs got married, and it is also a place that Reed Jobs frequently visited with his father during his childhood. The initial capital for the venture capital fund is $200 million, with participation from renowned institutions and individuals such as MIT, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and venture capitalist John Doerr. Reed Jobs aims to grow the fund to $400 million.

Yosemite’s focus on investing in cancer drug development is largely influenced by Steve Jobs, who passed away from pancreatic cancer. Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004 when Reed Jobs was 12 years old, underwent surgery, and later received a liver transplant in 2009, but ultimately could not overcome the disease. After his father’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Reed Jobs decided to become a doctor and enrolled in a pre-med program at Stanford University, but changed his major to history after his father passed away in 2011. In an interview with the NYT, he expressed, "I wanted to become a real doctor and treat people directly, so I was a pre-med student, but after my father passed away, it became really difficult to continue."

However, as he said at the 'TechCrunch Disrupt 2023' startup exhibition held on the 19th (local time) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, "It was natural to become interested in cancer treatment." He had been managing health-related investments at his mother’s company, Emerson Collective, investing in various companies and research institutes, which naturally led to the founding of Yosemite.

According to the business-focused social media service LinkedIn, Yosemite is described as a "venture fund focused on making cancer non-lethal," investing in oncology-related treatments, diagnostics, tools, and digital health fields. Emerson Collective, the foundation of Yosemite, has invested in medical companies such as gene therapy startup ElevateBio and blood collection startup Getlabs. Accordingly, it is presumed that the cancer drugs Yosemite invests in are related to gene therapy, blood collection, and cancer diagnostics.

In addition to its venture strategy, Yosemite plans to build a global academic network composed of cancer researchers worldwide to support its investments. By leveraging the synergy between venture investment strategies and scientific research support, it is expected to actively invest in next-generation cancer treatments and research technologies.