Arie Belldegrun’s party is still raging

In 2017, when Arie Belldegrun and the founders of Kite Pharma sold the company for $12 billion, they got the idea of starting a venture fund to invest their newfound largesse. But then word got out about the entrepreneur’s next act, and the phone began to ring.

“When they heard that we were coming with a fund, they wanted to be part of the party,” Belldegrun said. “So we created a type of a club — an investor club — of wealthy family offices.”

Now Vida Ventures, Belldegrun’s fund, has raised $600 million in a second financing round that comes just about a year after the first. And the plan, Belldegrun told STAT’s Kate Sheridan, is to use its financial might to take the lead on future startup financings.

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