He raised $400M for Biotech, an MIT PhD and a secret to the Roche deal.

🚀 Episode 8 of Deal Makers (& Fakers) - with Armon Sharei, Founder of Portal Bio and SQZ Biotech.Biotech startup IPO success and raising $400M in venture capital is a dream for many founders, but what happens after you go public? In this episode of Deal Makers (& Fakers), Niclas Schlopsna sits down with Armon Sharei, former founder of SQZ Biotech and current founder of Portal Bio, to discuss scaling cell therapy and the reality of the biotech industry.Armon Sharei shares his journey from a PhD at MIT under Robert Langer to closing a massive deal with Roche and leading a publicly traded company. Learn about the "Squeeze" technology, the biotech nuclear winter, and the death spiral that led him to start his second venture, Portal Bio.How did Armon Sharei start his journey?It began at MIT, where he developed a "cell-squeezing" technology that caught the attention of the scientific community and led him to launch:SQZ Biotech with little more than "napkin maths" and a $100,000 initial investment from professors and family. As he transitioned from a PhD student to a full-time CEO, he successfully navigated the venture capital landscape by leveraging the following:* Early academic validation* A prestigious partnership with Roche to secure a $5 million Series A. This momentum eventually snowballed into raising over $400 million, including a massive IPO in 2020, proving that a targeted, platform-focused strategy can bridge the gap between complex deep-tech research and large-scale public market success.What you’ll learn in this episode:- How to raise a Seed Round with no track record.- The secret to closing a partnership with Big Pharma (Roche & Pfizer).- Why the public market might be better than private equity for biotech.- How to identify red flags in venture capital investors.The future of cell therapy and global healthcare innovation.If you’re a founder navigating the complexities of deep tech, big pharma partnerships, or the pressures of the public market, this episode reveals what it takes to build, lose, and rebuild a world-changing company.Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.👉 Who is Armon Sharei?Armon is the founder of Portal Bio and the former CEO of SQZ Biotech. With a PhD from MIT, his work in cell therapy has been recognised as one of the "10 World Changing Ideas" by Scientific American. He is now focused on making cell therapy more accessible through his latest venture.👉 About the podcast: Deal Makers (& Fakers)Deal Makers (& Fakers) is a spectup podcast where founders and operators reveal what actually works in fundraising, investor outreach, and building companies, plus the “fakers” moments nobody posts about on LinkedIn.Thanks for reading Deal Makers (& Fakers)! This post is public so feel free to share it.👉 Who should listen?- Deep tech & biotech founders looking to scale.- Entrepreneurs interested in the transition from scientist to CEO.- Investors wanting to understand the future of cell therapy.👉 Visit spectup.com for more insights on fundraising strategy and startup growth.🔔 Subscribe for more deep dives with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dealmakersandfakers.substack.com