Firms Join Venture Fund

AstraZeneca, Nestlé Health Science, and Bayer CropScience have independently formed strategic partnerships with Cambridge, Mass.-based Flagship Ventures, a venture capital firm. Flagship is focused on investing in the fields of health care and sustainable technology. As part of their agreements with Flagship, the three partners have made financial investments in Flagship Ventures’ Fund V, a $537 million venture capital fund. Flagship says the partnerships will enable it to scale up VentureLabs, its hothouse for starting up and fostering technology companies. Start-ups that have emerged from VentureLabs include biotech firms Moderna Therapeutics and Seres Health, as well as bioenergy firm Joule Unlimited.