Genoa Ventures Named to Inc.’s 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors List for the Fifth Consecutive Year
Honor affirms Genoa’s central mission of cultivating partnerships with exceptional leaders to build science-driven companies of consequence.
SAN FRANCISCO, October 28, 2025 – Genoa Ventures is proud to announce its recognition on the Inc. Founder-Friendly Investors list, honoring the private equity firms, venture capital firms, and lenders with a track record of backing founder-led companies. This year’s list recognizes Genoa Ventures among 248 firms.
The prestigious list celebrates the investors that believe in backing founder-led businesses and helping them thrive. All companies on the list have successful track records of collaboration and remaining actively involved with the businesses they invest in.
“Raising capital is no small feat for today’s entrepreneurs. That’s why discovering investors who offer more than just financial backing—those who bring mentorship, resources, and a true spirit of partnership to your growth journey—is both rare and invaluable,” says Bonny Ghosh, editorial director at Inc. “The 2025 Founder-Friendly Investors are collaborators and dedicated to helping their portfolio companies succeed.”
“Biology is beautifully complex, and when it converges with technology, it unlocks possibilities that will redefine how we live, work, and sustain life. At Genoa Ventures, we seek out visionary founders who thrive in that complexity—those bold enough to challenge convention and push the boundaries of science. We empower these innovators to turn consequential discoveries into enduring impact, building companies that reshape industries and deliver long-term value for investors, communities, and the world around us,” said Jenny Rooke, Ph.D., Genoa Founder and Managing Director.
Founded in 2018, Genoa Ventures backs category-defying companies at the convergence of biology and technology across diagnostics, medical devices, laboratory tools, agricultural innovation, and synthetic biology. The firm’s mission is to accelerate scientific breakthroughs that redefine industries and address some of life’s most fundamental challenges. At the core of Genoa’s approach is a team of investors, scientists, and operators with advanced academic training and firsthand experience scaling companies from discovery through commercialization. Their deep understanding of science, technology, and markets enables Genoa to partner closely with entrepreneurs, transforming pioneering discoveries into enduring enterprises that create lasting global impact.
Throughout 2025, Genoa Ventures’ portfolio companies have continued to advance along the business development continuum, achieving five FDA clearances, releasing new products and tools critical to accelerating life science research breakthroughs, securing major partnerships with leading institutions and organizations, and earning recognition across global media.
In the diagnostics and medical devices sector of Genoa’s portfolio, InterVenn’s GlycoKnow™ Ovarian test received a Proprietary Laboratory Analysis (PLA) code from the American Medical Association, broadening access to advanced tools for ovarian cancer detection. Epitel earned its fifth FDA clearance for the REMI® Wireless Wearable EEG System, now approved for use in children as young as one year. SimBioSys secured its third FDA 510(k) clearance for TumorSight™ Viz, which transforms standard breast MRI scans into detailed 3D models that support surgical planning and clinical decision-making. BrightSpec was honored with a 2025 R&D 100 Award for its spectraMRR™ platform, which delivers faster, more precise molecular analysis through Molecular Rotational Resonance (MRR) technology.
Across agricultural biotechnology and food innovation, portfolio companies are redefining sustainability and resilience. ZwitterCo launched its FDA-compliant sanitary superfiltration membrane line, designed for whey protein concentrate and isolate production, expanding its footprint in industrial water treatment. Tropic Biosciences was named to the 2025 THRIVE Top 50 AgTech Report in recognition of its progress in developing non-browning bananas and next-generation crop traits. Meiogenix announced a $2 million collaboration with the Boyce Thompson Institute, co-funded by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research, to create tomato varieties with improved drought and disease resistance. Meanwhile, Bond Pet Foods, in partnership with the University of Illinois, published the first peer-reviewed study demonstrating the use of precision fermentation to produce real chicken protein for companion animals.
For more information on Inc’s methodology, or to view the complete list of honorees, visit https://www.inc.com/founder-friendly-investors.