CapeHaven Completes First Close of Funding and Initiates Operations to Encourage Yale’s Biotech Spinouts

New Haven-based biotech venture creation platform focused on launching early-stage therapeutics companies from breakthrough Yale University research

NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CapeHaven, LLC, a New Haven-based biotech venture creation platform, announced today that it has completed a first close on the path toward its target of $10 million. This initial tranche of funding was sourced from both individual and institutional investors.

CapeHaven is focused on identifying high-potential academic discoveries, primarily within the Yale ecosystem, and advancing them through the scientific, operational, and strategic milestones required to build fundable biotechnology companies.

This funding supports the following initiatives:

• Expansion of the CapeHaven scientific and venture creation team
• Evaluation and advancement of early-stage therapeutic opportunities emerging from academic laboratories
• Launch of Brainstorm Cancer Therapeutics, an oncology-focused discovery company
  
  

Founded by biotech veterans Ranjit Bindra, M.D., Ph.D, Seth Herzon, Ph.D., Kevin Rakin, and Mike Dillon, Ph.D., CapeHaven is designed to bridge the gap between academic discovery and company formation. Bindra is the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and Co-Director of the Yale Brain Tumor Center at Yale School of Medicine. Herzon is the Milton Harris ’29 Ph.D. Professor of Chemistry at Yale University. The firm works closely with scientific founders to identify promising therapeutic concepts and develop them into financeable, capital-efficient biotechnology companies. Most recently the founders sold Modifi Bio to Merck, Inc. for up-front and milestone payments of up to $1.3 billion.

Bindra and Rakin have collaborated for more than 20 years and have collectively founded or invested in more than a dozen New Haven based biotechnology companies, including Modifi Bio, Arvinas, Halda Therapeutics, Evolve Immune, Cybrexa Therapeutics, and Alphina Therapeutics. Collectively, these efforts have helped attract more than $1 billion in capital to New Haven-area biotechnology companies and resulted in a number of IPOs and strategic exits.

“The concept behind CapeHaven emerged from our experience building, scaling and exiting companies directly from academic science,” said Ranjit Bindra. “We believe there is a tremendous opportunity to identify transformative discoveries at very early stages and help translate them into viable therapeutic companies through focused scientific development, strategic planning, and experienced company formation.”

Josh Geballe, Managing Director of Yale Ventures, said, “It is exciting to see an experienced team based in New Haven that is focused on helping academic discoveries navigate the complex path from laboratory innovation to company creation. CapeHaven brings together scientific, operational, and entrepreneurial experience that can help accelerate the translation of promising discoveries emerging from the Yale ecosystem.”

About CapeHaven

CapeHaven is a New Haven-based biotech venture creation platform focused on transforming breakthrough academic discoveries into fundable biotechnology companies. The firm partners with scientific founders, primarily within the Yale ecosystem, to identify high-potential therapeutic concepts and advance them through early scientific validation, company formation, and strategic development. CapeHaven combines deep scientific expertise, operational experience, and capital formation capabilities to build capital-efficient therapeutics companies positioned for long-term translational impact.

Contact:
Robert Williams
Robert.Williams@capehavenbio.com

Follow CapeHaven on LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/capehaven

For additional information, visit:
www.capehavenbio.com

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