Chapter III: Leap Forward: Breaking through impossible. Together.
Two weeks ago, Leaps proudly launched Chapter III: Leap Forward. Our chapter films share the vision of Leaps by Bayer and the impact we aim to achieve.
While investments began in 2015, Leaps and our mission to break boundaries in life sciences investment — in scale, risk, and collaboration — was first introduced to the public in 2017. With our first chapter film “Leap of Faith,” we reconstructed a famous leap in skateboarding performed by two of the world’s greatest skateboarders Aaron “Jaws” Homoki and Ali Boulala. The film was narrated by skate legend Tony Hawk. Chapter I posed the question, ‘What would be a leap of faith in science?’. In 2019, we launched “Dare to Leap” starring record-holding freediver Sofia Gomez Uribe. The film was a manifesto to introduce our ambitious goals with our ten leaps.
Some seven years after Leaps’ founding, with over 1.5bn USD invested in more than 50 portfolio companies, we are starting to glimpse what tomorrow might look like. Our unique approach to investment, several important portfolio milestones, and the pace of innovation in biotech give us cause for optimism.
In the third film of our Chapter trilogy, Leaps brought together the world-record holding kite surfer Olivia Jenkins and a team led by scientist and Olympic weather coach Dr. Alicia Ageno on the remote Pacific Island of Samoa. After months of careful planning, amidst unpredictable weather conditions, Olivia became the first person to kite surf from today into tomorrow, leaping over the International Date Line that separates Samoa and American Samoa. This feat, achieved on August 14th, 2022, underscores why working together is essential to tackle what once seemed impossible.
We at Leaps firmly believe that collaboration is key to making breakthroughs in life science and beyond. Since our first investments, this conviction has never wavered. Together with our portfolio companies, we share a tireless pursuit of a healthier, more sustainable future.
We aim to enable, so others can fly.
The parallel between “Leap Forward” and our approach to investing in transformational innovation becomes clear in another film we produced called “Breaking through impossible. Together.” It provided a moment to reflect on what we’ve achieved over the last seven years and what will come next. Through conversations between leaders from Leaps and selected portfolio companies, we learn more about their bold visions and groundbreaking research. It was an honor to have Brian Thomas CEO at Metagenomi, Katie Fanning CEO at Mozart Therapeutics, Travis Bayer CTO at Sound Agriculture, John Dombrosky CEO at Oerth Bio sit down with our team members Rakhshita Dhar, Lucio Iannone and Derek Norman, to talk about their fascinating ideas and how Leaps’ support elevates and accelerates their work.
Chapter III shows us that a breakthrough is never just a leap in isolation. It requires joining forces with others who dare to push difficult boundaries. In our film, we not only witness a literal journey toward tomorrow, but we also gain a deeper understanding of why every leap in science urgently matters to humankind. I hope that Chapter III gives our team and our partners the renewed motivation to believe that nothing is impossible to achieve when we work together. Please join me in celebrating their accomplishments so far and their shared belief in the possibilities of tomorrow.
