# 5Am Ventures
5AM Ventures is a United States life science venture capital firm, headquartered at 4 Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, that invests in biopharmaceutical, drug delivery, and research instrument companies and expects returns within three to five years from validated development-stage assets.[1](https://5amventures.com/strategy/) Its funds are Delaware limited partnerships whose principal office is the San Francisco address and whose stated principal business is venture capital investments.[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1674324/000167432426000002/xslSCHEDULE_13D_X01/primary_doc.xml) The funds are managed by 5am Venture Management, LLC, an investment adviser SEC-registered since 2021 (unverified aggregator data), and the firm remains actively investing through 2026.[3](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/)
## Key facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founding partners | John D. Diekman and Scott M. Rocklage[4](https://5amventures.com/team/) |
| Headquarters | 4 Embarcadero Center, Suite 3110, San Francisco, CA[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1674324/000167432426000002/xslSCHEDULE_13D_X01/primary_doc.xml) |
| Managing partners | Kush M. Parmar and Andy J. Schwab[4](https://5amventures.com/team/) |
| Sector focus | Early-stage life sciences: biopharmaceuticals, drug delivery, research instruments[1](https://5amventures.com/strategy/) |
| Reported regulatory AUM | $1.1 billion; 32 employees (unverified Form ADV-derived data)[3](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/) |
| Status (2026) | Active: January 2026 Schedule 13D/A filed; new C-suite appointments in 2025–2026[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1674324/000167432426000002/xslSCHEDULE_13D_X01/primary_doc.xml) • [3](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/) |
## History and people
The firm's team page lists John D. Diekman and Scott M. Rocklage as founding partners.[4](https://5amventures.com/team/) Form ADV-derived records list Andrew James Schwab as a control member of 5am Venture Management LLC since 2006 and Kush M. Parmar in the same role since 2016, each holding 50–75% (unverified aggregator data).[3](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/) Fund filings confirm the current structure: Schwab, Parmar, and Rocklage serve as managing members of 5AM Partners V, the general partner of Fund V, while Schwab and Parmar alone are managing members of the Opportunities vehicle's general partner.[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1674324/000167432426000002/xslSCHEDULE_13D_X01/primary_doc.xml) For Fund VI, Schwab and Parmar are the managing members of 5AM Partners VI, LLC, and share voting and dispositive power over the fund's holdings.[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1753037/000110465924110570/tm2426593d1_sc13d.htm)
The team has expanded since 2023. Anna Yaeger became Chief Investment Officer in 2026 and John Ryan Kelly became CFO/COO in 2025 (unverified aggregator data);[3](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/) the firm's team page lists Yaeger as Chief Investment Officer and Partner, Kelly as Partner, CFO & COO, Deborah Palestrant as Partner and Executive Chair of the 4:59 [Initiative](https://www.edgepedia.org/initiative), and Brian Daniels, MD as a Venture Partner.[4](https://5amventures.com/team/)
## Strategy
The firm describes its approach as hands-on life science investing, diversified across biopharmaceutical, drug delivery technology, and research instrument sectors, with investments expected to generate returns within three to five years from validated development-stage assets and technologies with less regulated commercialization paths.[1](https://5amventures.com/strategy/) Its 4:59 initiative is an internal effort to discover, incubate, and fund breakthrough science, with the firm often acting as an extension of a young company's operating team to establish proof-of-concept data that enables a Series A financing.[1](https://5amventures.com/strategy/) A trade-press analysis describes 5AM as investing at or before seed stage, with partners taking short-term operating roles and remaining engaged through a company's life, a venture-creation model it compares directly with [Flagship Pioneering](https://www.edgepedia.org/flagship-pioneering)'s.[6](https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/5am-ventures)
The firm runs a second, distinct strategy: 5AM Opportunities invests in small and mid-cap public and later-stage private biotech and life science companies, rather than the earliest stages.[1](https://5amventures.com/strategy/)
## Funds by the numbers
Aggregator data derived from Form ADV reports that the manager oversees 12 private funds with combined gross assets of $947 million, including 5am Ventures VI, L.P. at $270 million, 5am Ventures VII, L.P. at $267.3 million, and 5am Opportunities II, L.P. at $236.6 million; the $1.1 billion regulatory AUM and 32-employee headcount come from the same unverified source.[3](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/) Fund VII's size is disputed across sources: one fund database describes $450 million of committed capital,[7](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/fund/18448-66F) while the Form ADV-derived figure is $267.3 million in gross assets;[3](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/) the discrepancy is unresolved and the two numbers measure different things (commitments versus assets).
## Portfolio and exits
Primary filings document a mix of private and public positions. Before one portfolio company's IPO, Ventures VI and Opportunities II bought 22,642,752 shares of Series A Prime Preferred and Series B Preferred stock in a series of private transactions for an approximate aggregate purchase price of $26,249,999.[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1753037/000110465924110570/tm2426593d1_sc13d.htm) In Rallybio, a Schedule 13D amendment to the firm's filing reports 135,319 shares held directly by Fund V and 156,469 by 5AM Opportunities, out of 5,280,471 shares outstanding as of December 30, 2025, and discloses an 8-for-1 reverse split.[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1674324/000167432426000002/xslSCHEDULE_13D_X01/primary_doc.xml)
Data providers report different totals for portfolio exits: one lists 110 exits[8](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/11104-03) while another lists 63.[9](https://www.cbinsights.com/investor/5am-ventures) Claims of specific 2026 exits (including a Latigo Biotherapeutics IPO and transactions involving Silence Therapeutics, Spruce Biosciences, TMRW Life Sciences, and [Wildcat Discovery Technologies](https://www.edgepedia.org/wildcat-discovery-technologies)) and a CAMP4 PIPE in August 2026 could not be confirmed against primary or reputable press excerpts and are therefore not asserted here.
## Comparisons
The sourced basis for comparison is narrow. The firm's in-house company-creation engine, the 4:59 Initiative, builds companies from basic scientific breakthroughs toward a Series A, with partners taking short-term operating roles; trade coverage draws a direct parallel between this model and Flagship Pioneering's venture-creation approach.[6](https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/5am-ventures) • [1](https://5amventures.com/strategy/)
## References
1. [Strategy – 5AM Ventures](https://5amventures.com/strategy/)
2. [Schedule 13D/A Amendment No. 2 — Rallybio Corp (5AM Ventures V, L.P. and related reporting persons)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1674324/000167432426000002/xslSCHEDULE_13D_X01/primary_doc.xml)
3. [5am Venture Management – AUM, Funds, Owners & Contact Info](https://privatefunddata.com/fund-companies/5am-venture-management-llc/) (unverified Form ADV-derived aggregator data)
4. [Team – 5AM Ventures](https://5amventures.com/team/)
5. [Schedule 13D — 5AM Ventures VI, L.P. and related reporting persons](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1753037/000110465924110570/tm2426593d1_sc13d.htm)
6. [5AM Ventures – VC Fund Breakdown](https://www.vcsheet.com/fund/5am-ventures)
7. [5AM Ventures VII fund profile – PitchBook](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/fund/18448-66F)
8. [5AM Ventures investor profile – PitchBook](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/11104-03)
9. [5AM Ventures investor profile – CB Insights](https://www.cbinsights.com/investor/5am-ventures)
10. [SEC EDGAR — Form D filings, 5AM Ventures funds](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=1753037&type=D)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Finance › Venture capital and private equity › Venture capital firms of the Americas › Healthcare and life sciences investors › Biopharma and biotech investors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license