ABC Chat with Eyal Ben Ami - M Ventures

As part of Bina’s ABC meetings, we hosted Dr. Eyal Ben Ami, Associate - Science Lead at M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Merck. 
M Ventures invests in early-stage biotech and health-tech companies, sitting right at the intersection of cutting-edge science and global industry. 
Eyal took us on a journey from the lab bench to the investor’s chair - from academic research in neuroimmunology, through roles in drug development companies and biotech startups, to his current position as an investor in a corporate VC fund.

Along the way, he shared what it feels like to move from:
Academia to industry - translating curiosity-driven research into real-world therapies.
R&D and drug development roles into leadership positions in startups.
From being a scientist pitching for funding to being an investor evaluating startup teams.

One of the core themes of the talk was understanding the difference between independent VC and corporate VC from a founder’s perspective:
= Independent VC: primarily financially driven, focused on returns, portfolio construction, and fund timelines
= Corporate VC: investing with both strategic and financial goals, aligned with the parent company’s roadmap, while also offering access to expertise, infrastructure, and global networks

This session was a rare chance to see how a scientific career can evolve into roles in startups, leadership, and ultimately investing – and how skills built at the bench remain valuable at the boardroom table.
Thank you, Eyal, for an open and insightful conversation, and to the participants for the thoughtful questions and discussion.