# Arch Venture Partners > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Arch_Venture_Partners > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Arch_Venture_Partners.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Venture_Partners > Source revision: 1321789940 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **ARCH Venture Management LLC** (known as Arch Venture Partners and Arch) is an American [venture capital](/source/Venture_capital) firm based in [Chicago](/source/Chicago). The firm mainly invests in companies from the [biotechnology](/source/Biotechnology) industry but has also invested other industries such as [semiconductors](/source/Semiconductor) and technology. ## Background In 1986, the Arch Development Corporation was initially created by the [University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago) and the [Argonne National Laboratory](/source/Argonne_National_Laboratory) as a [non-profit](/source/Nonprofit_organization) initiative to commercialize the technology developed by them.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The name Arch reflects this origin with "Ar" from Argonne and "ch" from the University of Chicago.[5] Arch Development Corporation was led by Steven Lazarus who was Deputy Dean of [University of Chicago Booth School of Business](/source/University_of_Chicago_Booth_School_of_Business).[4][5][7] Lazarus noted that [spin-off company](/source/Research_spin-off) plans were hindered by lack of external capital, so a [venture fund](/source/Funding) would be created to provide it.[5][7][8] In 1989, the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory provided around $9 million in capital for Arch Development Corporation's first fund, Arch Venture Fund Limited Partnership.[1][5][6][7] It was believed to be first venture capital fund to be established between a major U.S. laboratory and university and the first to be fully pledged by a group of investors.[7] The first fund invested in twelve companies with 7–8 of them being successful investments.[4][5] After the success of the first fund, the university stated it no longer considered Arch Development Corporation as an experiment and wasn't comfortable continuing as general partner of a venture fund so it proposed that Arch Development Corporation would focus on [licensing](/source/License#Patent_licensing) and [business development](/source/Business_development) of technologies while capital raising will be done outside the university .[4][6] In 1992, Lazarus along with Booth Graduate students, Clint Bybee, Keith Crandell and Bob Nelsen left the university to set up Arch Venture Partners as an independent firm to raise capital.[4][5][6] The firm mainly invests in companies that are in the biotechnology, semiconductors and computing fields.[9][1][2][3] ArchVenture Partners is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in [Seattle](/source/Seattle), [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco) and [Dublin](/source/Dublin).[10] On June 10, 2018, Lazarus passed away and the firm's management was succeeded by the other co-founders.[11] ## References 1. ["ARCH Venture Partners: Stay in School - | Venture Capital Journal"](https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/arch-venture-partners-stay-in-school/). June 21, 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210621032715/https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/arch-venture-partners-stay-in-school/) June 21, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 24, 2022. 1. ["ARCH raises $350M fund"](https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2004/03/08/daily42.html). *www.bizjournals.com*. March 11, 2004. Retrieved December 24, 2022. 1. ["Biotech investor raises $3 billion in new fund"](https://www.chicagobusiness.com/technology/chicago-biotech-investor-arch-venture-partners-raises-3-billion-new-fund). *Crain's Chicago Business*. June 29, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022. 1. ["Done Deals - Venture Capitalists Tell Their Stories - Lazarus"](https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/done-deals-venture-capitalists-tell-their-stories-lazarus). *HBS Working Knowledge*. Retrieved December 24, 2022. 1. ["Interview with David Cruikshank | UNC Innovation & Entrepreneurship | Innovate Carolina"](https://innovate.unc.edu/investors-corner-interview-with-david-cruikshank-of-arch-ventures/). *innovate.unc.edu*. November 15, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2022. 1. Sciences (US), National Academy of & Roundtable, National Academy of Engineering (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Government-University-Industry Research (1999). [*Presentation by Teri Willey Vice-President, ARCH Development Corporation at the Workshop on Overcoming Barriers to Collaborative Research March 23–24, 1998*](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK208848/). National Academies Press (US) 1. ["U. OF C., LAB FORM VENTURE CAPITAL FUND"](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-02-13-8903050062-story.html). *Chicago Tribune*. February 13, 1989. Retrieved December 24, 2022. 1. "University Fund to Turn Inventions Into Products". *Arlington Heights Daily Herald*. [Associated Press](/source/Associated_Press). February 15, 1989. p. Section 4, page 2. 1. ["American VC firm Arch launches $3bn biomedical fund with eye on Japan - Nikkei Asia"](https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Biotechnology/American-VC-firm-Arch-launches-3bn-biomedical-fund-with-eye-on-Japan). June 13, 2022. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220613013748/https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Biotechnology/American-VC-firm-Arch-launches-3bn-biomedical-fund-with-eye-on-Japan) June 13, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. 1. ["Contact"](https://www.archventure.com/contact/). *ARCH Venture Partners*. Retrieved December 24, 2022. 1. ["STEVEN LAZARUS Obituary (1931 - 2018) - Chicago, IL - The Washington Post"](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/steven-lazarus-obituary?id=1708530). *Legacy.com*. Retrieved January 2, 2023. ## External links - [Official website](https://archventure.com) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Arch Venture Partners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Venture_Partners) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Venture_Partners?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.