AN Venture Partners (ANV), a global biotech venture capital fund, today announced that its new portfolio company, Tortugas Neuroscience (“Tortugas”), has raised a total of $106 million in Seed and Series A fundings. In this Series A round, new investors, The Column Group and ANV joined Cure Ventures, who led the Seed round.
Tortugas, a biotech company based in Framingham, Massachusetts, specializes in developing therapeutics for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. The funds raised will be used to advance R&D activities, including Phase II clinical trials for two lead candidate compounds.
Tortugas is led by CEO Jeff Jonas, and President and Head of R&D Al Robichaud, Ph.D., both formerly of Sage Therapeutics and who bring extensive experience in drug development and biotech management.
Tortugas’ clinical-stage pipeline consists of assets licensed from Eisai Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) and Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Greater China). These assets incorporate research achievements from Eisai’s longstanding work in the field of neurological and psychiatric disorders and target central nervous system (CNS) diseases with high unmet medical needs, such as schizophrenia, tinnitus, focal epilepsy, and reversible encephalopathy.
The candidate compounds are novel small molecules with low-risk mechanisms of action and both are being developed as once-daily oral formulations. Each has a unique pharmacological profile and the company is considering multiple indications for development.
Ken Horne, Managing Partner at ANV, commented: “We see great significance in the fact that the research achievements that Eisai, one of Japan’s leading pharmaceutical companies, has built up over many years in the CNS field will be delivered to patients through Tortugas. The unmet medical needs in CNS disorders remain significant, and we are confident that Tortugas’ pipeline can address those needs. ANV’s mission is to connect science originating in Japan with the global startup ecosystem, and this investment embodies that vision. We look forward to working with the outstanding team led by Jonas and Robichaud to bring innovative therapies to the CNS field.”
For the full press release from Tortugas Neuroscience, please see here.
About Tortugas Neuroscience
Tortugas Neuroscience is a neurology-focused biotech company dedicated to developing effective medicines that address diseases of the brain. With a strategic focus on clinically derisked mechanisms and rapid development pathways, Tortugas Neuroscience is committed to creating therapies with meaningful impact for patients worldwide.
About AN Venture Partners (ANV)
ANV is a Tokyo and San Francisco-based multi-stage, global biotech venture capital firm specializing in bridging innovative science from Japan with the US start-up ecosystem. ANV Fund I is a USD200 million fund that closed in June 2025. The firm was established in 2022 by a group of experienced venture capitalists from Japan and the United States, who have a wealth of experience building start-ups. ANV is committed to strengthening Japan’s biotech ecosystem and founded initiatives such as Science2Startup Japan to accelerate ecosystem growth. For more information, please visit www.an.vc.
Media Contacts
Email: info@an.vc
