| Company type | Private ownership |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private equity |
| Predecessor | Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | One Embarcadero Center San Francisco,California,United States |
Key people | |
| Products | Venture capital |
| Website | www.altapartners.com |
Alta Partners is aventure capital firm based inSan Francisco which invests primarily inbiotechnology andlife science companies.[4]
Cofounder Guy Nohra later relocated inBarcelona, Spain, to cofound Alta Life Sciences[5] in 2016.[6]
Dan Janney joined Alta as a partner in 1996, when the firm was founded; Pete Hudson and Bob More joined in 2017.[7]
In 2000, the firm launched two VC funds, Alta California Partners III and Alta BioPharma Partners II.[8] It raised its ninth fund, Alta Partners NextGen Fund I, in 2017.[7] Two new healthcare VC funds were launched in 2004: Alta BioPharma Partners III and ACP IV.[9]
In May 2022, the company filed a lawsuit against BRC Inc.[10] (NYSE:BRCC),[11] the surviving entity of a 2021 merger between SilverBox Capital andBlack Rifle Coffee[12]) in the Southern District of New York, which alleging a breach of contract, and seeking damages due to BRC's refusal to allow Alta to exercise warrants in 2022. The suit was settled in June 2025, with Alta paying BRC $1,000,000, and BRC issuing 2,300,100 shares of its Class A common stock to Alta.[11]
Notable investments have includedEllie Mae,Be Inc.,Ilex Oncology, Connects Corp, The Medicines Co.,[8] Kite Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Esperion, Allakos Chemgenx, DeCode Calistoga, Aerie, Cymabay, Tyra Biosciences,[13] DIspatchHealth and VIR Biotechnology.[4]