BARDA Ventures

BARDA Ventures — Equity Co-Investment

Invests in healthcare-focused countermeasure enterprises through BARDA Ventures, advancing diagnostics, vaccines, and resilient production growth stages.

BARDA Ventures is an equity co-investment program operated jointly by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and GHIC (Global Health Investment Corporation). It applies venture capital practices — primarily equity investment rather than grants or contracts — to accelerate companies developing transformative medical countermeasures across the full health security chain. Investment stages span seed through growth, making it one of the few federal programs that engages companies at the earliest financing stages using an equity instrument rather than a procurement mechanism.

Only for-profit companies are eligible; nonprofit organizations, universities, and individual applicants are explicitly excluded because the program structure requires an equity stake. The seven focus areas articulated by the program span disease forecasting and surveillance, rapid diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, resilient domestic manufacturing, equitable MCM access, and enabling platform technologies. Investment amounts are not published on the program landing page — deal terms are negotiated individually in alignment with GHIC co-investment norms and BARDA's R&D milestone expectations. Companies can expect investments to carry milestone-linked terms tied to commercialization progress.

Organizations interested in BARDA Ventures should initiate contact at BARDAVentures@hhs.gov before preparing a full submission, as the program operates through relationship-driven engagement rather than a formal open solicitation. The GHIC co-investment model means that BARDA Ventures functions as a strategic co-investor rather than a sole funder — companies will benefit from GHIC's global health investment network alongside the regulatory and development support available through BARDA's broader programs. Past portfolio companies are visible through GHIC's Global Health Security Portfolio.