Breaking through
the impossible
Since 2015, Leaps by Bayer has invested over $1 billion in ventures that tackle fundamental breakthroughs and shift core paradigms in our industries.
Health:
From treatment to cure / prevention
Modern medicine has been pivotal in doubling life expectancy over the last 150 years. We believe it is our responsibility to not only pursue biomedical innovations that could disrupt our core business, but to transform the lives of millions of patients for the better.
Agriculture:
From more to better
Agriculture today is optimized for the scale of a growing population. Next-generation technologies need to produce better food, better use of land and resources, better nutrition, better sustainability, better solutions for the diverse needs of people and our planet.
Our impact investment approach aims to conquer ten huge challenges facing humanity. Some people call them impossible. We call them “leaps”.
For the long term,
we need to think big
The scale of our mission requires significant and sustained investment of both money and time. We collaborate with the world’s brightest minds in biotech and agriculture, focusing on medium-to-large equity investments over a minimum time of three to five years. Leaps by Bayer is able to provide significant early-stage funding, allowing companies to focus on the long-term delivery of their disruptive technology, rather than short-term and lower impact results.
Through our investments, we form targeted collaborations and new ventures, lift their talent towards a greater purpose, and maximize their probability of success. We accelerate the work of leading entrepreneurs with funding and active incubation to enable breakthrough ideas that achieve maturity and scale.
In an increasingly convergent world, there is no innovation without collaboration.
Growing knowledge
through collaboration
Currently industry convention blocks innovation by keeping IP siloed. We believe this can hinder scientific breakthroughs. We challenge this convention by enabling the exchange of proprietary assets. This can include sharing our own patents or providing access to the Bayer network’s technical capabilities and 150 years of expertise. All of the companies we partner with remain autonomous with respect to decision making, we build our relationship from start to finish. Together, we aim to transform the lives of millions of patients and the health of the planet for the better.
We do so by facilitating and supporting them in a process we call “active incubation”. Experienced team members actively engage in the young companies’ development by providing resources and helping them to steer the initial strategic direction.
Return
for humanity
Beyond ROI, we have a key measure of success that we call “return for humanity”. We are convinced that once we achieve a leap that significantly improves life on the planet for all, financial rewards will follow.
All of our investments are geared to develop a business model that balances ROI with return for humanity.
The Happiness Research Institute and Leaps by Bayer have developed a new impact metric to help better prioritize investment in breakthrough innovations. Introducing Wellbeing Adjusted Life Years (WALY), a common currency of impact based on evidence and experience to help us make better decisions that lead to better lives and a better world. This collaboration with the Happiness Research Institute it is a starting point to begin moving beyond financial return and measure the happiness return on investment.
10 leaps.
10 huge challenges.
By leveraging transformative biotechnologies, we aim to tackle ten leaps that could have the greatest impact on humanity. Much of what we are aiming to achieve is not yet possible. Setbacks and failures are to be expected in dealing with such ambitious targets. Each leap starts with a very low probability of success. Each one could fundamentally change the world for the better.
However, with 150 years of history and expertise in the life sciences, across both healthcare and agriculture, Bayer sees the bigger picture.
We feel it is our responsibility to set new benchmarks; to find the courage to begin where others resist and to drive breakthrough innovation.
Our leaps reflect Bayer’s ambition to tackle the biggest challenges based on where our leadership and competencies can most make a difference.
These 10 films bring each of our Leaps to life – imagining what's possible, how we might achieve it and how it could positively transform our lives and our planet.
01 /
Cure
genetic diseases
Stopping genetic diseases before they progress could prevent chronic suffering and give each of us the chance to live a full and healthy life.
02 /
Provide
sustainable organ replacement
An on-demand organ supply could end years of waiting and enable additional years of living.
03 /
Reduce
environmental impact of agriculture
Nourishing a growing population without starving the planet is a monumental challenge.
04 /
Prevent
and cure cancer
Biotechnology that leverages the immune system, iPSCs, and other emerging platforms could make huge strides in the fight against cancer.
05 /
Regenerate
lost tissue function
Cell therapy hold tremendous promise to restore health and reverse the course of degenerative diseases.
06 /
Reverse
autoimmune diseases
Permanently reversing autoimmune diseases could enable lives free of chronic pain, disease management, and life-threatening conditions.
07 /
Cure
through microbiome health
Restoring microbiome health could help people suffering from depression, intractable skin conditions, and other diseases. Microbes could also help make agriculture more sustainable.
08 /
Develop
sustainable protein supply
Nourishing a global population will require new approaches to sustain both a healthy planet and healthy people.
09 /
Eradicate
insect-borne infections
Emerging tech could eliminate preventable health risks among people already struggling with poverty and lack of health care.
10 /
Drive
transformational digital business models
Emerging companies with data and insight at their core could transform the life sciences for better.
