Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Reed Jobs, son of the late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, has launched a new venture capital firm aimed at investing in novel cancer treatments. The firm is named Yosemite, in honor of the national park where his parents were wed.
31-year-old Reed Jobs was inspired by his father, who passed away from complications linked to pancreatic cancer in 2011. Jobs revealed to the New York Times' DealBook that his father's diagnosis when he was just 12 years old led him to focus on oncology, beginning with a summer internship at Stanford at the age of 15.
The new venture, Yosemite, has so far raised $200 million from investments from various sources, including medical institutions such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University, M.I.T., and venture capitalist John Doerr.
Reed Jobs' firm will build upon his prior experience as a managing director at the Emerson Collective, a mission-driven corporation founded by his mother, Laurene Powell Jobs.
Uniquely, the firm will operate on a dual-structure model. It will be a for-profit business that also incorporates a donor-advised fund, providing grants to scientists for their research. These scientists can then return to Yosemite for venture funding.
Reed Jobs said that his new role will help scientists build and refine their research. He expressed excitement at the potential to incubate projects and make a significant difference in their focus and direction.