Flying L Partners

Managing Partner William Link, alongside Partners Andy Corley and Richard Lindstrom, leads investment decisions. Link is a managing director of Versant Ventures and a serial founder of ophthalmology device companies; Corley previously co-founded and sold eyeonics; Lindstrom is a practicing surgeon at Minnesota Eye Consultants. The trio bring a mix of venture, operational, and clinical expertise to deal evaluation.

No, the firm raises capital on a per-transaction basis. Once it identifies a single promising ophthalmic company, it forms a capital-raising effort dedicated to that asset. The model avoids a blind-pool fund structure, giving co-investors line-by-line exposure and allowing the firm to size each round to the specific clinical or regulatory milestone.

The firm focuses on early-stage, seed, and start-up opportunities, as well as expansion and late-stage rounds within the ophthalmic sector, according to its Altss research record. It has not publicly disclosed a rigid stage mandate, but the team’s operational background — often stepping in to accelerate product development — suggests a preference for companies approaching or navigating FDA timelines.

Deal flow appears to come primarily through the deep networks of its principals. Bill Link’s venture investing at Versant Ventures, Andy Corley’s executive relationships across the surgical-ophthalmology industry, and Richard Lindstrom’s clinical practice and academic ties at the University of Minnesota provide proprietary access to surgeon-founded device companies, particularly in the United States.

The firm’s website does not disclose a separate philanthropic foundation. Partner Richard Lindstrom is affiliated with Minnesota Eye Consultants, and Matthew Larson currently serves as President and COO of the glaucoma-device company Equinox Ophthalmic. Those operating-company roles sit alongside — but are not formally part of — Flying L Partners’ investment vehicle.