Flu Lab

Flu Lab

Flu Lab was established in 2018 by Lucy Southworth, who also founded the ocean-conservation philanthropic vehicle Oceankind. The firm's primary funder is Larry Page, co-founder of Google and husband to Southworth, connecting Flu Lab to a deep pool of technology-derived wealth. Casey Wright, a former CDC and HHS official with over a decade of federal public-health experience, runs the operation as CEO. Julie Schafer, who previously directed strategy at HHS's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and served in the White House National Security Council, serves as Chief Technology Officer. The firm pursues a dual-track strategy that is uncommon for a single-disease-focused entity. It makes grants to research organizations and direct venture investments in early-stage companies, all concentrated on influenza. Funding priorities span universal vaccine development, transmission-blocking technologies, improved diagnostics, and therapeutics. Flu Lab co-funded the Grand Challenge for Universal Influenza Vaccine Development alongside the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It also serves as the launch funder of the Sabin-Aspen Vaccine Science & Policy Group, housed at the Sabin Vaccine Institute. The geographic footprint is global, reflecting influenza's pandemic potential. Team size and total deployment capital are not publicly disclosed. Flu Lab is listed as a partner of the Wharton School and participates in the Global Funders Consortium for Universal Influenza Vaccine Development, an industry association of research backers. The broader Page-Southworth structure includes several distinct operating entities and owned assets, such as the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation, the ocean-focused philanthropy Oceankind, and real assets including the Coconut Grove compound in Miami, the Atomic Farm parcel in Atherton, California, and Tavarua Island in Fiji. Flu Lab's demand signal remains consistent: evidence of continued grantmaking and partnering through its consortium work, though no new fund close or large-scale investment vehicle has been publicly announced. What distinguishes Flu Lab structurally is its fusion of philanthropic grantmaking and venture-style investing under a single mandate to defeat one virus. Most disease-focused funders operate as either pure philanthropies or pure venture funds — Flu Lab does both, backed by a single ultra-high-net-worth founder. This lets the firm bridge the gap between academic research and commercial vaccine development without the fundraising cycle constraints of a traditional venture firm, positioning it as a bespoke, founder-led instrument rather than an institutional allocator.