Strebulaev-Jackson Venture Ranking: Top 50 Biotech VC Firms
The first industry cut of the Strebulaev-Jackson Venture Ranking, scoring US VC firms only on their biotech investments. It ranks the top 50 and shows how specialists such as ARCH and OrbiMed compare with generalists that lead the overall list.
- Reliability
- Grade B · 8/12
- Ranks
- Venture firms, Biotech (US-based firms)
- Editions
- 1 since 2026
- Method
- Data
- How items get in
- Compiled by the publisher
- Status
- New
Editions
| Edition | Published | Top of the list | On record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | August 21, 2026 | ARCH Venture Partners | 29 of 50 |
How the ranking works
Same six-factor scoring as the overall ranking (discounted valuations, dilution, net profit, value add for leads and board seats, three-year half-life decay, and 25/75 firm-partner credit split), restricted to biotech investments. Institutional US VC firms qualify if they have invested in at least five unique biotech companies via qualified VC rounds. The data cutoff is June 30, 2026.
Scores fall steeply: ARCH has 1,992 points, rank 10 has 379 and rank 50 has 109.
Scores only: Indicator scores are published without a single overall rank. Firms cannot apply or pay; scores are computed from investment records. The top ten and scattered ranks are free; the full table sits after a paywall on the post.
How far to trust it
Superscout grades every ranking on six criteria, each scored 0 to 2. Strebulaev-Jackson Venture Ranking: Top 50 Biotech VC Firms scores 8 of 12, grade B.
- Transparency 2/2
- Method and eligibility rules stated; working paper available.
- Independence 2/2
- Computed from records; no fees or applications.
- Evidence 2/2
- Investment-level data.
- Stability 1/2
- Decay factor moves ranks by design; first edition.
- Coverage 1/2
- Top 50 only, with most of it paywalled.
- Track record 0/2
- First edition 2026.
History
Announced in the June 2026 overall release as the first of several industry rankings. A paid pre-release appeared on August 14, 2026 and the public release on August 21, 2026.
How it is received
No attributable external commentary was found yet. The authors highlight that generalist leaders rank far lower in biotech (Sequoia 64th, Andreessen Horowitz 40th, Lightspeed 27th) and that several specialist biotech firms are absent from the overall top 100.
Strengths
- Fully data-driven with a published working paper describing six factors.
- Measures value captured after dilution and cost, not deal volume or unicorn logos.
- No editorial adjustments and no firm self-submission.
- Time decay keeps the ranking focused on current performance.
Weaknesses
- The underlying dataset is not public, so scores cannot be independently reproduced.
- Private valuations are discounted uniformly, a simplifying assumption.
- Parts of the ranking (extended lists, detail) are for paid subscribers only.
- First edition only; stability across years is untested.
Open questions
Facts not verified yet. They stay visible so they are not mistaken for settled facts.
- Ranks 12, 13, 16, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 33 to 35, 38, 39, 41 to 47, 49 and 50 are paywalled.
- The August 14, 2026 post may have been a paid-only pre-release; treated as the same edition.
Superscout describes Strebulaev-Jackson Venture Ranking: Top 50 Biotech VC Firms independently from the publisher’s own pages and outside coverage, linked below. The rankings belong to Ilya Strebulaev (Stanford GSB) newsletter.