NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harris & Harris Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TINY), an investor in transformative companies enabled by disruptive science, is pleased to announce that Accelerator Corporation, a leading life sciences investment and management firm, in which Harris & Harris Group was one of the New York City original investors, has secured an additional $11.7 million in new investment commitments, bringing the total committed capital to $62.8 million.
Joining the original investment group in this new financing are distinguished life sciences companies AbbVie, WuXi PharmaTech, and the Watson Fund. These firms add further depth and breadth to the initial Accelerator IV investment syndicate, which includes Harris & Harris Group as well as Alexandria Venture Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, Eli Lilly and Company, Johnson & Johnson Innovation-JJDC, Inc., The Partnership Fund for New York City, and Pfizer Venture Investments.
Since its launch, Accelerator has raised more than $100 million to invest in innovative life sciences companies. The focus of Accelerator IV remains early-stage life sciences companies with an emphasis on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. The additional funding will allow Accelerator’s team of skilled, talented and motivated professionals to continue to help grow novel, new disruptive life sciences start-ups.
“As one of the founding investors in Accelerator IV, we view the additional investment as a reflection of the progress Accelerator has already achieved and the vast opportunities inherent in this collaborative concept,” says Misti Ushio, Ph.D., Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer at Harris & Harris Group as well as a board member of Accelerator IV. “The program is filling a void for early-stage biotech companies that had previously been in need of a local platform to incubate new companies arising from the wealth of new science and technology being developed in New York City.”
Accelerator’s press release can be viewed at http://www.acceleratorcorp.com/2015/09/new-investors-join-syndicate-board-members-appointed/.
About Harris & Harris Group
Harris & Harris Group is a publicly traded venture capital firm that is also a business development company. Detailed information about Harris & Harris Group and its holdings can be found on its website at www.HHVC.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/harrisharrisvc and by following on Twitter @harrisandharrisgroup.
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