# JDRF T1D Fund

JDRF T1D Fund is a Private Equity based in New York, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** New York, NY, United States
- **Founded:** 2014
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** t1dfund.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/t1d-fund

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

JDRF T1D Fund is a venture philanthropy fund that invests in companies addressing type 1 diabetes. It has made 57 investments, including a January 08, 2026, investment in Century Therapeutics. The fund has 9 portfolio exits, with Bigfoot Biomedical being its most recent exit on September 05, 2023.

## Sectors

- Biotech
- Digital Health
- Medical Devices

## Offices

- Boston, MA
- Vancouver, BC
- Toronto, ON

## People

- Katie Ellias — Managing Director
- Sean Doherty — Managing Director

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at the JDRF T1D Fund?

Managing Directors Katie Ellias and Sean Doherty lead the fund's investment activities. Ellias brings experience from venture investing and healthcare banking, while Doherty's background spans biotech operations and venture capital. The investment committee includes JDRF leadership and external scientific advisors who evaluate the T1D relevance and clinical viability of each opportunity.

### How is the T1D Fund structurally different from JDRF's traditional grant-making?

The T1D Fund operates as a for-profit venture philanthropy vehicle, unlike JDRF's core 501(c)(3) grant-making arm. It takes equity positions in private companies with the explicit goal of generating returns that recycle back into the mission. This structure allows the fund to use market incentives to attract co-investors and management talent that a pure grant model cannot access.

### What investment stages does the T1D Fund target?

The fund targets seed through Series B rounds, occasionally participating in later-stage syndicates for portfolio companies advancing toward regulatory milestones. The focus is on the translational gap between academic proof-of-concept and the larger clinical trials that attract traditional biotech venture funds. Average initial check sizes have ranged from $500,000 to $5 million based on public disclosures.

### Does the T1D Fund only invest in drug development?

No. While beta-cell replacement and immunomodulation therapies form a core part of the portfolio, the fund also invests in medical devices — particularly next-generation continuous glucose monitors and insulin delivery systems — and digital health platforms that improve T1D management. Diagnostics for early detection and disease staging are an additional focus area.

### Are the fund's returns distributed to investors or reinvested?

The T1D Fund is structured so that returns from successful investments are reinvested into the fund's capital base to support new investments, rather than being distributed to external limited partners. This structure was designed explicitly to create a self-sustaining source of T1D-focused capital that does not depend on continued fundraising cycles from JDRF's donor base.

## Related profiles

- [JD Capital](https://altss.com/profile/jd-capital)
- [JDS Sports](https://altss.com/profile/jds-sports)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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