Reed Jobs discusses Yosemite venture firm and cancer research
9 reported
Reed Jobs, son of Steve Jobs, spoke with TechCrunch about his oncology-focused venture firm Yosemite, which he launched in 2023 to build biotech companies from early academic research using philanthropy and outside investment. Jobs said he prefers discussing Yosemite’s work over his family name. The firm now has a team of 17 and has raised a second fund targeting $350 million. Jobs noted that AI has become a major part of Yosemite’s operations, accelerating drug discovery and clinical trial design. He also discussed the impact of proposed NIH budget cuts, which he said were rejected by Congress in a bipartisan manner. Yosemite’s portfolio includes companies like Azalea, Quarry, Tune Therapeutics, and Histosonics, with close to 25 companies across two funds.
What’s reported
Reed Jobs launched Yosemite in 2023 as an oncology-focused venture firm.
Yosemite has a team of 17 and a second fund targeting $350 million.
About one-third of the fund goes into companies Yosemite creates itself; the rest goes into companies it joins.
2.5% of the fund’s assets under management goes into a donor-advised fund for no-strings-attached grants.
Jobs said AI is accelerating grunt work in drug discovery and helping target previously undruggable proteins like KRAS.
Yosemite is targeting the p53 tumor suppressor gene with three companies and several strategies.
Portfolio companies include Azalea (from Jennifer Doudna’s lab), Quarry (with Craig Crews), Tune Therapeutics (epigenetic editing for hepatitis B), and Histosonics (noninvasive liver tumor destruction).
Jobs said the NIH faced proposed cuts of 40% and then 12%, both rejected by Congress; he advocates increasing NIH funding to $100 billion.
Yosemite has close to 25 companies across two funds, with two failures not detailed in the article.
Key figures
Reed Jobs: Founder of Yosemite
Jennifer Doudna: Scientist whose lab received a grant leading to Azalea
Craig Crews: Serial founder involved with Quarry
Sources: TechCrunch
