ECPHORACapital Platform

For emerging fund managers

Your name on the fund. Our platform behind it.

The Ecphora Capital Platform is for managers and organizations ready to run a fund of their own. Ecphora covers the cost of setting up your fund, handles the ongoing administration, and joins you as co-GP. Fundraising can be led by your team, assisted by Ecphora, or run entirely by Ecphora.

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Fund summaryIllustrative

Your Fund I, L.P.

Private investment fund · Formed on the Ecphora Capital Platform

General partners
You, with Ecphora Capital as co-GP
Formation costs
Covered by Ecphora
Thesis and deals
Yours
Fundraising
Led by your team, assisted by Ecphora, or run by Ecphora
Administration
Handled by Ecphora
For illustration only. Each fund’s terms are set in its own documents.
$30M+invested through Ecphora vehicles
15portfolio companies backed
75partner institutions in our BioHealth Capital Region network

The platform

The hardest part of a first fund comes before the first check.

Most first-time managers already have what a fund needs: a thesis, investors who trust them, and access to good companies. What stops them is everything else.

Legal formation, fund documents, entity setup, banking and compliance all cost money before a single dollar is raised. Plenty of would-be strong managers never get through the stretch before the first close.

Ecphora Capital removes those barriers. We pay to set up your fund, handle its ongoing administration, and stand beside you as co-GP, so your time goes to the work only you can do.

Fund formationFund documentsEntity setupLaunch costs

How it works

From first conversation to a fund in your name.

Every fund on the platform follows the same path. The thesis, the size and the terms are yours to shape.

  1. Conversation

    Tell us about the fund you want to run: your focus, your investors and your timing.

    Together

  2. Design

    We shape the fund with you, including strategy, size, terms and the roles each GP will hold.

    Together

  3. Formation

    Ecphora forms the fund and prepares its documents, and covers the cost of doing it.

    Ecphora

  4. Raise

    Your team leads the raise, Ecphora assists, or Ecphora runs it entirely. You choose what fits your fund.

    Your choice

  5. Invest and operate

    You lead the deals. Ecphora handles the ongoing administration as your co-GP.

    Together

The partnership

What you bring, and what we bring.

You bring

  • A thesisA clear view of what the fund invests in and why you’re the one to do it.
  • Your networkPeople who know your judgment and want to back it.
  • Deal accessRelationships with the founders and companies your fund is built to back.
  • LeadershipThe time and commitment to lead the fund through its life.

Ecphora brings

  • Setup costs, coveredWe pay to form your fund and prepare its documents.
  • A co-GP beside youAn experienced general partner on your fund from the first day.
  • Structure and a playbookThe know-how and playbook to launch and run a fund, from the first documents to the first close and beyond.
  • Ongoing administrationWe handle the fund’s administration, so you can stay focused on deals and investors.
  • A track recordYears of running investment vehicles, with more than $30 million invested across 15 companies.

Who it’s for

Built for people who should be running a fund.

Emerging managers

You’re ready to raise your first fund and want an experienced partner on the GP side from the start.

Organizations

Incubators, accelerators, universities, foundations and associations that want a fund of their own to back the companies around them.

Angel and syndicate leads

You already lead deals for a circle of investors. A fund gives them a committed vehicle and gives you one in your own name.

Operators and specialists

Physicians, scientists, founders and executives with real access to the best companies in their field.

Founder and Managing Partner

Deborah Hemingway, PhD

Deborah founded Ecphora Capital and serves as co-GP on the funds launched through its platform. She has spent 15 years in the BioHealth Capital Region, first in graduate research and then as an angel investor. Through Ecphora she has led more than $30 million of investment across 15 companies, and she knows the Maryland, DC and Virginia investment community from the inside.

Questions

What managers ask us first.

What does it cost me to launch a fund on the platform?

Ecphora covers the cost of setting up your fund and joins it as co-GP. How the fund’s economics are shared is agreed fund by fund, and we walk through it with you in our first conversations.

Who raises the fund’s capital?

You choose how the raise works. Funds on the platform raise capital in one of three ways:

  • Led by your team. Your team brings in investors from your own network, on a fund that’s formed and ready to accept capital.
  • Assisted by Ecphora. We train and support your team as it runs the raise inside your firm.
  • Run entirely by Ecphora. We take on the fundraise ourselves.
What does it mean for Ecphora to be co-GP?

A fund’s general partner is responsible for managing it. As co-GP, Ecphora shares that responsibility with you. You lead the thesis and the relationships with your investors and founders, and Ecphora carries the formation and ongoing administration that keep the fund running. The exact roles are written into each fund’s documents.

How do we get started?

Start by applying. Send us a short note about the fund you want to run. We partner with a select group of managers, so we review every application closely, and we invite the managers who fit the platform to a first conversation about strategy, fund size, terms and timing.