Dear ARK Venture Investors,
We would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. 2025, no doubt, should bring fresh beginnings and a lot of changes, not least a new administration in the US and new governments early in office around the world. It will bring huge and accelerating changes in technologies, and how we use them are proliferating as we speak—most certainly those associated with the nascent but increasingly ubiquitous deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and its many fruitful convergences with aligned technologies.
We have several exciting updates on the ARK Venture Fund portfolio to share with you, but first, we would like to thank you for believing in and backing the potential of this ARK offering. Your support and interest in the missions of the companies in which we invest inspires and humbles the ARK Venture team and our portfolio company founders alike.
With your help, we are excited to share that the ARK Venture Fund crossed $100 million in assets under management (AUM) on December 16, and as of 12/31/2024, the Fund’s AUM was $108.5 million. We are especially proud of reaching that milestone in a little over two years after the Fund's inception. $100 million AUM often is considered a milestone delineation point between emerging and established managers and puts the ARK Venture fund in the top 10% of venture capital funds by size.1
Importantly, this scale and growth enables us to continue finding the best companies that are building value and disrupting industries.
Umoja Biopharma
In the fourth quarter of 2024 the ARK Venture Fund invested in Umoja Biopharma. Founded by a team of renowned scientists, innovators, and seasoned industry experts, Umoja aims to break down the barriers of traditional cell and gene therapy, making those life-saving treatments more accessible, affordable, and scalable for patients worldwide.
At the core of Umoja’s innovation is its proprietary VivoVec technology, a transformative platform that eliminates the need for the labor-intensive and costly ex vivo manufacturing process typically required for CAR T-cell therapies. VivoVec bypasses the logistical complexities of harvesting, engineering, and reinfusing cells by genetically reprogramming a patient's immune cells directly within their own body. The approach reduces production time and costs dramatically and can improve treatment efficacy, expand patient eligibility, and enhance clinical outcomes, particularly for those who may not have access to conventional CAR-T therapies. Umoja’s unique approach has garnered substantial industry recognition and support, highlighted by a landmark $1.44 billion strategic collaboration with AbbVie, a global leader in immunology and oncology innovation. The partnership underscores the potential of Umoja’s in vivo gene engineering platform to transform how diseases are treated. It also accelerates the advancement of a robust therapeutic pipeline targeting many complex and high-need indications, including hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, and chronic autoimmune conditions. Beyond its groundbreaking CAR T-cell programs, Umoja Biopharma spearheads advancements in gene delivery technologies, tumor-targeting mechanisms, and novel immune system modulation techniques. The company’s integrated platforms, including Tumor Tag for precise tumor recognition and FuseVec for enhanced therapeutic payload delivery, work synergistically to optimize the effectiveness and safety of next-generation therapies.
Umoja’s comprehensive research and development strategy is complemented by a deep commitment to collaboration with academic institutions, clinical partners, and biopharma leaders. The alliances strengthen Umoja’s ability to translate scientific discoveries rapidly into impactful therapies that address significant unmet medical needs.
By reimagining the future of cell therapy, Umoja Biopharma is positioning itself as a trailblazer in the next generation of immunotherapy. The company’s dedication to scientific excellence, patient-centric innovation, and equitable access to advanced care underscores its vision of a world in which curative treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases are no longer a luxury but a standard of care available to all. With its unparalleled technology, ambitious pipeline, and strong strategic partnerships, Umoja Biopharma stands at the forefront of a medical revolution—poised to set new standards for how complex diseases are treated, managed, and ultimately conquered.
Relation Therapeutics
In early 2024, the ARK Venture fund invested in the final phase of Relation Therapeutics’ $60M seed round alongside the top-tier investor co-leads DCVC and NVIDIA’s NVentures. During the final quarter of 2024, the company reached an exciting and validating milestone that positions the team well to succeed in its mission to bring life-saving therapies to people with diseases of aging.
Relation announced a collaboration deal with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) that could be the largest pharma deal in history for a seed-stage biotech. The deal2 covers two strategic collaborations across the major unmet disease areas of fibrosis and osteoarthritis.
Relation will receive a $45 million total upfront payment from GSK that includes an equity investment of $15 million. In addition, Relation will be eligible to receive success-based collaboration payments of up to $63 million; it also has the potential to receive preclinical, development, commercial, and sales milestone payments averaging $200 million per target across both deals, as well as tiered royalties on net sales of products. As a result—and depending on how many programs proceed and how well they hit their milestones—scenarios are possible in which the deal could be worth several billion dollars overall. Relation will lead observational studies to generate two unique functional disease data sets, and Relation’s Lab-in-the-Loop platform will analyze those data by integrating human genetics, single-cell multiomics directly from human tissue, functional assays, and machine learning to discover novel disease targets. The approach minimizes the risk of clinical failure by ensuring targets are validated robustly before entering the clinic.
Lucra Sports
Finally, ARK announced our investment in Lucra Sports during the fourth quarter. A pioneering platform in the consumer betting industry, Lucra3 is focused on casual, social peer-to-peer (P2P) wagering. Unlike traditional sports books, Lucra enables friends to engage in friendly competitions across various activities, including sports and recreational games, for real money or fun. The approach appeals to casual fans seeking a more social betting experience. As the betting landscape continues to evolve, platforms like Lucra should be well-positioned to capture market share by offering innovative, user-centric, or white-labeled solutions that resonate with modern mobile-first bettors.
Again, we express our gratitude for your support and belief in our work. As we continue to build the Fund and portfolio, the ARKVX family would love to hear from you. We are deeply interested in your thoughts about the technologies and companies that excite you and that might be a good fit for the portfolio. We regard you as our partners in this journey and seek opportunities to engage you—even with the companies themselves—and improve our service. We continue to scour the globe for the best opportunities in private disruptive technologies. Growth in 2025 is feeling imminent. Stay innovative!
Charlie, Chase, and the broader ARK Ventures Team.
Important Information
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of the ARK Venture Fund before investing. This and other information are contained in the ARK Venture Fund’s prospectus, which may be obtained here. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.
To view the top 10 holdings in the ARK Venture Fund, click here. To view the most up to date portfolio, click here.
You should not expect to be able to sell your Shares other than through the Fund’s repurchase policy, regardless of how the Fund performs. The Fund’s Shares will not be listed on any securities exchange, and the Fund does not expect a secondary market in the Shares to develop. Shares may be transferred or sold only in accordance with the Fund’s prospectus. Although the Fund will offer to repurchase Shares on a quarterly basis, Shares are not redeemable and there is no guarantee that shareholders will be able to sell all of their tendered Shares during a quarterly repurchase offer. An investment in the Fund’s Shares is not suitable for investors that require liquidity, other than liquidity provided through the Fund’s repurchase policy. The ARK Venture Fund is a continuously-offered, non-diversified, registered closed-end fund with limited liquidity.
All statements made regarding investment opportunities are strictly beliefs and points of view held by ARK and investors should determine for themselves whether a particular investment or service is suitable for their investment needs. Certain statements contained in this document may be statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on ARK’s current views and assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. The matters discussed in this document may also involve risks and uncertainties described from time to time in ARK’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ARK assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this document. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
An investment in the ARK Venture Fund is subject to risks and you can lose money on your investment in the ARK Venture Fund. There can be no assurance that the ARK Venture Fund will achieve its investment objectives. The ARK Venture Fund’s portfolio is more volatile than broad market averages. The ARK Venture Fund also has specific risks, which are described below. More detailed information regarding these risks can be found in the ARK Venture Fund’s prospectus.
Foreside Fund Services, LLC, distributor.
ARK Investment Management LLC (“ARK Invest”) is the investment adviser to the ARK Venture Fund.
Walker, Peter; Dowd, Kevin; Young, Michael; Lester, Alex. “VC Fund Performance: Q1 2024.” August 16, 2024. https://carta.com/data/vc-fund-performance-q1-2024/
Ralph, Alex. “GSK puts its faith in London biotech firm with $300m deal.” December 10, 2024. https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/gsk-puts-its-faith-in-london-biotech-firm-with-300m-deal-7qngjmsm3
Sports Business Journal. “Lucra Is Introducing a New Way to Compete With Friends for Real Money on Their Social Platform That Bypasses Casinos and Sportsbooks.” December 2, 2022. https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/12/02/Technology/lucra-sports-betting-peer-to-peer-social-platform.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com
ARK’s statements are not an endorsement of any company or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. ARK and its clients as well as its related persons may (but do not necessarily) have financial interests in securities or issuers that are discussed. Certain of the statements contained may be statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on ARK’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements.