James Zanze
Get their honest, personalized take on your startup.
Sign in to pitch James →At a glance
- Full Name
- James F. ("Jim") Zanze
- Title
- Managing Director & Co-Founder
- Firm
- Aquilo Partners, L.P.
- Firm Type
- Life sciences / healthcare investment bank and strategic advisor (M&A, licensing/partnering, and private placements) — not a fund or angel vehicle
- Investment Stage
- Advises across the company lifecycle, from private financings/placements to M&A and licensing deals for emerging and established life science companies
- Check Size
- Not applicable — Aquilo is an advisory/placement firm rather than a principal investor; historically raised $13B+ in private equity under Zanze's placement leadership and has raised $8B+ in capital as a firm
- Target Company Profile
- Therapeutics, medical device, and diagnostics companies seeking growth capital, partnerships, or M&A/exit outcomes
- Sector Focus
- Life sciences and healthcare — biotech, pharmaceuticals/specialty pharma, therapeutics, medical devices, research tools, and diagnostics
- Geographic Focus
- Global, with a U.S. base
- Location
- San Francisco, California
Background
Jim Zanze co-founded Aquilo Partners in 2003 (the firm was established circa 2002) and serves as a Managing Director in its San Francisco office. He brings over 30 years of investment banking experience concentrated in the life sciences, with a specialty in therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics. Aquilo describes itself as "a global financial and strategic advisor focused solely on life science and healthcare innovation," advising emerging and established companies on capital raising, M&A, and strategic partnerships.
Before founding Aquilo, Zanze served as Managing Director and Head of Private Placements at JPMorgan and, before that, at Hambrecht & Quist. Over an 11-year tenure leading that group, he grew it to 34 professionals globally and raised more than $13 billion in private equity for both public and private companies. He began his career at Salomon Brothers Inc. in the firm's Venture Capital Group.
Beyond banking, Zanze served as a director at California Pacific Medical Center, where he chaired the investment committee overseeing the institution's roughly $350 million endowment. He holds a BA from Middlebury College.
Note on classification: the "Angel Investor" label in the source stub does not match the public record. Zanze is a career life sciences investment banker and advisory-firm co-founder; the items below reflect that advisory role rather than personal angel checks.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Deep, exclusive focus on life sciences and healthcare — therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, research tools, and (specialty) pharma; Aquilo works "solely on life science and healthcare innovation."
- Core services are private placements/financings, M&A, and licensing/partnering transactions — helping companies "navigate the complexities of capital raising, M&A, and strategic partnerships."
- Track record orientation: the firm cites $15B+ in M&A and partnering transactions advised and $8B+ in capital raised, with ~105 total deals (51 M&A, 54 financings) as of 2026.
- What earns a "yes" is fit with Aquilo's specialty verticals and a need for tailored capital-raising, partnering, or exit outcomes rather than a check-size threshold.
Notable Investments
- Sale of a clinical-stage company to Eli Lilly — M&A exit for a therapeutics client.
- Option and license agreement with Novartis (oral covalent inhibitors), $1B+ — a major licensing/partnering deal.
- Sale of a single-cell spatial biology tools company to Takara Bio USA — research-tools M&A exit.
- Historically, under Zanze's leadership of the private placement groups at Hambrecht & Quist and JPMorgan, $13B+ in private equity raised for public and private companies.
Unlock the full research
Get how to approach them, recent activity, sources, contact links — plus pitch their AI twin for a candid read on your raise.
One-time. Stays unlocked for you.