{{Short description|Healthcare investment firm in Boston}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}

{{Infobox company | name = RA Capital Management, L.P. | logo = RA Capital Logo.svg | image = | image_caption = | type = Private | industry = Financial services | foundation = {{Start date and age|2002|01}} | founders = Richard Aldrich<br>Peter Kolchinsky | location = Berkeley Building, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | key_people = Peter Kolchinsky (Managing Partner)<br>Rajeev Shah (Managing Partner) | aum = US$12.6&nbsp;billion (March 2025) | equity = | num_employees = 130 (March 2024) | parent = | subsid = | products = Hedge fund<br>Venture capital<br>Private equity | homepage = {{URL|www.racap.com}} | footnotes =<ref name="ADV">{{cite web |title=Form ADV |url=https://reports.adviserinfo.sec.gov/reports/ADV/160174/PDF/160174.pdf |website=SEC}}</ref> }}

'''RA Capital Management''' (RA Capital) is an American investment firm based in Boston. It is focused on making public and private investments in the healthcare, biotechnology, and planetary health industries.

== History == The company that would become RA Capital was started in 2001 by Richard Aldrich, a co-founder of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Edelson |first=Steve |date=February 22, 2016 |title=BioCentury |url=https://www.racap.com/media/Perspectives/RAC_BioCentury%20(2016)%20Investing%20Upstream.pdf?v=YHE0CFq1fIGVj7FxgyH4ukba5-qjDrQR70fQXZKlX24 |website=RA Capital}}</ref> In 2002, Aldrich hired Peter Kolchinsky, who was earning his doctorate in virology from Harvard, to invest $4 million of seed money in biotech.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Shari |first=Michael |title=Stocks Picks From a Top Biotech Hedge Fund |url=https://online.barrons.com/articles/stocks-picks-from-a-top-biotech-hedge-fund-1435372731 |access-date=May 19, 2023 |website=online.barrons.com |language=en-US}}</ref> RA Capital, named after Aldrich, was officially formed in 2004.<ref name=":12" />

The firm was initially set up as hedge fund that invested in public companies although it would later invest in private companies as well. RA Capital has an in-house research group, named TechAtlas that creates its disease-specific maps.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=January 4, 2016 |title=Investing in the Health Care Revolution |url=https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b14ywvnzdbr5s9/investing-in-the-health-care-revolution |access-date=May 19, 2023 |website=Institutional Investor |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Shari |first=Michael |title=Stocks Picks From a Top Biotech Hedge Fund |url=https://online.barrons.com/articles/stocks-picks-from-a-top-biotech-hedge-fund-1435372731 |access-date=May 19, 2023 |website=online.barrons.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Peter Kolchinsky and Raj Shah's RA Capital has $461M more to play with, after 'rapid' investment in the last 15 months |url=https://endpts.com/peter-kolchinsky-and-raj-shahs-ra-capital-has-461m-more-to-play-with-after-rapid-investment-in-the-last-15-months/ |access-date=May 19, 2023 |website=Endpoints News |language=en}}</ref>

One of the firm's earliest successful investments was its investment into Triangle Pharmaceuticals which Gilead Sciences acquired for $464&nbsp;million in early 2003.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Edelson |first=Steve |date=February 22, 2016 |title=BioCentury |url=https://www.racap.com/media/Perspectives/RAC_BioCentury%20(2016)%20Investing%20Upstream.pdf?v=YHE0CFq1fIGVj7FxgyH4ukba5-qjDrQR70fQXZKlX24 |website=RA Capital}}</ref>

Aldrich left RA Capital in 2009 to start Longwood Fund, a venture capital firm, although he still remains an investor in RA Capital.<ref name=":2" />

In 2009, RA Capital assets fell by 35.3% due to its large investment in Sequenom which lost 90% of its market value after it admitted it had falsified data on its tests for Down syndrome treatment. As a result, the firm limited individual investments to 15% of the firm's assets.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Huckman |first=Mike |date=April 30, 2009 |title=The Sequenom Syndrome |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2009/04/30/the-sequenom-syndrome.html |access-date=May 19, 2023 |website=CNBC}}</ref>

The firm made one of its first private investments in 2010 when it participated in a $15&nbsp;million series C round for T2 Biosystems.<ref name=":1" />

In 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had sanctioned nineteen firms that illegally participated in stock offerings less than five days after short selling the stock. RA Capital was one of the firms and agreed to pay the largest amount out of them with disgorgement of $2.65&nbsp;million, interest of $73,000 and a $905,000 penalty.<ref name=":2" />

As of 2015, the firm had delivered an annualized return of 28.4% since its founding.<ref name=":2" />

In 2019, the firm launched its first venture fund, RA Capital Nexus Fund I which raised $300&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RA Capital Closes $461 Million Investment Fund Aimed at Life Sciences Companies |url=https://www.biospace.com/article/ra-capital-closes-second-investment-fund-at-461-million-one-year-after-its-first-closed/ |access-date=May 19, 2023 |website=BioSpace |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

In 2019, the firm started an incubator called Carnot to test the viability of early-stage biotechnology companies.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sheridan |first1=Kate |date=23 September 2019 |title=RA Capital launches Carnot, an incubator for early-stage biotechs |url=https://www.statnews.com/2019/09/23/ra-capital-incubator-carnot/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Stat}}</ref> As of 2020, the firm had begun operating an incubator program called RAVentures to help develop new and early-stage companies working in biotechnology.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keown |first1=Alex |date=22 October 2020 |title=RA Capital Closes $461 Million Investment Fund Aimed at Life Sciences Companies |url=https://www.biospace.com/ra-capital-closes-second-investment-fund-at-461-million-one-year-after-its-first-closed |access-date=10 February 2025 |work=BioSpace}}</ref>

In 2020, the firm’s second venture fund, Nexus Fund II, raised $461 million.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Nick Paul |date=2 October 2022 |title=Fresh from early successes, RA Capital bags $461M for new fund |url=https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/fresh-from-early-successes-ra-capital-bags-461m-for-new-fund |access-date=1 December 2024 |work=Fierce Biotech}}</ref> The firm’s third venture fund, Nexus Fund III, raised $880 million in 2021.<ref name="IPM23">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Johnathan |date=20 December 2023 |title=The Top Five Venture Capital Heavyweights in Life Sciences |url=https://www.insideprecisionmedicine.com/topics/precision-medicine/top-five-venture-capital-heavyweights-in-life-sciences/ |access-date=7 December 2024 |work=Inside Precision Medicine}}</ref>

In 2023, the firm founded a team to focus on investments in planetary health.<ref name="TC23">{{cite news |last1=De Chant |first1=Tim |date=5 December 2023 |title=Veteran life sciences firm RA Capital spins up ‘planetary health’ team to ride climate tech wave |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/05/ra-capital-planetary-health-profile/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref> In its first year, RA Capital Planetary Health participated in a $30.5 million series C round for a recycling startup<ref name="TC23" /> and a $30 million series B round for a battery equipment startup.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fehrenbacher |first1=Kate |date=4 December 2023 |title=Exclusive: AM Batteries raises $30M led by Toyota Ventures |url=https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2023/12/04/am-batteries-toyota-porsche |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=Axios}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official website| https://www.racap.com}} {{hedge funds}} {{Private equity and venture capital}} {{authority control}}

Category:American companies established in 2002 Category:Financial services companies established in 2002 Category:Financial services companies based in Massachusetts Category:Hedge fund firms in Boston Category:Privately held companies based in Massachusetts Category:Venture capital firms of the United States Category:Private equity firms of the United States