The March Group

The March Group

The March Group operates as a thematic venture capital firm, structured around a collaboration with the University of California system to invest in early-stage life sciences and agricultural technology. The firm's model centers on commercializing research from the UC system's 12,000 active inventions. Rather than marketing the partnership, it publishes the metrics: 546 granted US patents, 725 non-US patents, and 1,200 annual research projects flowing through the pipeline. The team includes Dr. Harold Schmitz, Christopher Lai, Dr. Tony Lau, and Stephen Badger. The firm states it backs exponential technology platforms for human and planetary health and a new food paradigm. Its investment-stage coverage spans seed, start-up, and growth. The group's portfolio, though details are thin, links to the UC system's $8 billion in annual research funding. The firm participated in a life sciences accelerator and fund in partnership with a University of California entity. No named portfolio companies or independent co-investors are confirmed on the firm's public site. No AUM figure or total capital deployed has been publicly disclosed. Firm-specific headcount is unstated. No additional offices or philanthropic vehicles are named. The group mentions a "strategic global network," but no non-US locations are confirmed. The structural differentiator is a university-anchored sourcing model more akin to a technology transfer engine than a conventional VC. The firm defines itself by proximity to a specific research ecosystem, presenting deal flow as an extension of a $8B public research budget rather than a traditional GP-LP fundraising story.