Funding profile · Transdermal drug delivery

Avro Life Science

A Y Combinator Winter 2018 company that raised about $2.2 million in one reported seed round and has announced nothing since. It is a Canadian issuer, so the SEC file is empty by construction.

$2.2MReported seed, June 2018, the only round on record
$100KThiel Fellowship to the CEO, 2018, no equity
$30KVelocity Fund awards in 2016, $5K plus $25K
0SEC filings of any type naming the company

Data as of September 23, 2026. Company-reported figures are labeled.

Rounds at a glance

When Round Amount Investors Source
2016 Velocity Fund award $5,000 University of Waterloo Velocity Fund Incubator
Fall 2016 Velocity Fund Finals $25,000 University of Waterloo Velocity Fund University
2016 to 2017 Accelerator award $10,000 plus support Bayer Grants4Apps Company-stated
Winter 2018 Y Combinator batch Standard YC terms, not disclosed Y Combinator YC directory
Jun 2018 Thiel Fellowship, to Lakhani personally $100,000 Thiel Foundation Incubator
Jun 2018 Seed $2.2M in the bank at the time of reporting Led by Fifty Years; Susa Ventures, Garage Capital, Heuristic Capital, Embark Ventures, Uphonest Capital, Buckley Endeavours, plus angels TechCrunch
By 2026 Investor of record, round not disclosed Not disclosed Selvedge Venture, which lists Avro Investor site
Jul 2018 to Sep 2026 No further round reported None None Not found

What the filings show

SEC EDGAR · full text and company search · run Sep 23, 2026

Form D filings
None
Filings of any type
None. Full text queries for Avro Life Science, Avro Life Sciences and Avro Life each return 0
Registrants named Avro
2, both unrelated
Investment vehicles
No SPV or fund filing names it
Why
The issuer is based in Ontario. Form D reports offerings made under Regulation D, a US exemption; a Canadian issuer relying on other exemptions files nothing with the SEC
Filing
SEC EDGAR, no CIK assigned

US and Canadian regulatory files · checked Sep 23, 2026

FDA applications
None. No NDA, ANDA or 505(b)(2), and no listed drug product
FDA device records
None. Zero 510(k) and zero PMA records
Registered trials
None. ClinicalTrials.gov returns 0 studies for sponsor Avro and 0 for the term OmniDerm
Federal grants
No NIH or NSF award; both fund US small businesses only
Granted patents
2: US 10,576,043, Mar 3, 2020, and US 11,324,705, May 10, 2022
Publications
No PubMed record

Reading the filings

  1. An empty SEC file means nothing here.Avro is an Ontario issuer, and Form D is a notice of an offering made under Regulation D, a US exemption. US funds took part in the 2018 round, but the issuer used whatever exemption fit and owed the SEC no notice. The absence proves only that no Regulation D offering was noticed.
  2. The whole disclosed equity story is one line.$2.2 million, reported once, in a single TechCrunch article on June 29, 2018, and described there as what the company had in the bank rather than the size of the round. Six funds and unnamed angels are listed, no amount is attributed to any of them, no valuation was published, and no later round has been reported in the 99 months since.
  3. Roughly $140,000 of the early money was non-dilutive.$5,000 and $25,000 from the Velocity Fund, about $10,000 from Bayer Grants4Apps, and $100,000 from the Thiel Fellowship, which went to Lakhani personally and took no stake. That is most of what paid for the first patches.
  4. The spend has not produced a regulatory asset.Eight years after incorporation the file holds two granted patents and nothing else: no FDA or Health Canada application, no registered trial, no publication, no announced licensing deal. Capital has not yet converted into anything a buyer can price.
  5. Headcount points down, not up.Y Combinator lists team size 8; LinkedIn lists 2 to 10 employees. In March 2022 the company was hiring lab chemists and an animal technician for a new Kitchener headquarters, and the LinkedIn page still gives a Waterloo address. Nothing shows that build out being completed or funded.
  6. The pitch has moved to a more expensive problem.The 2018 business sold patches of approved generics, where only the delivery method needed proving. The 2022 to 2026 business delivers nucleic acid therapeutics into skin, a first in class path rather than a bioequivalence one, and it costs more than the money on record could cover.

Commercial signals

Signal Detail Source type
Revenue None disclosed. No approved or marketed product exists. Not found
Partnerships Bayer Grants4Apps accelerator, 2016 to 2017. In 2018 TechCrunch reported the relationship “may lead to a deeper relationship down the road.” No signed agreement has been announced. Company-stated
Licensing model A 2019 release said the company was “currently establishing co-development and licensing agreements with leading pharmaceutical companies prior to launching their own clinical programs in 2021.” No counterparty has been named. Not borne out
Named programs AVR 235 and AVR 335, on platforms called TopiqIL and TransdermIL, in the website navigation as of Sep 23, 2026. Indications and stage are not published. Company-stated
Intellectual property Two granted US patents covering a 4 to 8 cm2 water and sweat resistant patch and its casting method. Nothing granted since May 2022. Public record
Press coverage Independent coverage stops in 2018. The most recent company item found is an August 2019 release. Not found

What to watch

  • A Canadian securities notice. An Ontario issuer selling exempt securities files a report of exempt distribution with the OSC, which is where a new round would first appear.
  • A Form D, which appears only if a future round is offered into the US under Regulation D.
  • A first regulatory filing on either side of the border for AVR 235 or AVR 335.
  • A named counterparty for the licensing model described in 2019.
  • Whether the Selvedge Venture holding is ever dated and sized.

The Avro Life Science story on Healthcare DiscoveryHealthcare Discovery

Related companies

  • LSK Technologies: Shared investor: K Velocity Fund. A toaster sized plate reader, built by two graduate students from off the shelf parts, that read paper based Zika tests on hundreds of patient samples in Brazil
  • Zergo: Shared investor: Velocity Fund. A Waterloo nanotechnology team built a cannabis breathalyzer, then pointed the same electrochemical sensor at fertility hormones in urine
  • MedMe Health: Shared investor: Velocity Fund. Web software that lets pharmacies book, document and bill vaccinations, minor ailment visits and chronic care checks
  • Vena Medical: Shared investor: Velocity Fund. A sub-millimetre camera that looks forward from inside a brain artery, and a balloon catheter built to pull a clot out on the first try

Sources

  1. Public recordSEC EDGAR full text and company searches, no Avro filingsSEC · Sep 23, 2026
  2. Public recordUS Patents 10,576,043 and 11,324,705USPTO · 2020 and 2022
  3. Public recordopenFDA, Drugs@FDA and ClinicalTrials.gov searches, all returning nothingQueried Sep 23, 2026
  4. IndependentReplacing pills with a Band-Aid? Avro Life Science thinks there’s a patch for thatTechCrunch, Jonathan Shieber · Jun 29, 2018
  5. IndependentVelocity entrepreneurs win Thiel FellowshipsVelocity, University of Waterloo · Jun 23, 2018
  6. IndependentAvro wins national runners up for the James Dyson AwardUniversity of Waterloo · 2017
  7. InvestorAvro portfolio pageSelvedge Venture · Sep 2026
  8. CompanyJames Dyson Award 2017 entry, listing the Velocity and Bayer awardsJames Dyson Foundation · 2017
  9. CompanyAdvancements television series press releaseAdvancements TV · Aug 22, 2019
  10. CompanyAvro company page and Sarani hiring postLinkedIn · Mar 2022 and Sep 2026
  11. CompanyAvro profile, Winter 2018 batch, team size 8Y Combinator · Sep 2026
  12. CompanyAvro website navigation naming TopiqIL, TransdermIL, AVR 235 and AVR 335avrolifesci.com · Sep 23, 2026

Compiled from SEC, FDA, USPTO and ClinicalTrials.gov public records and published reports as of September 23, 2026. Form D notices report offerings under Regulation D; a non-US issuer that does not rely on that exemption files none, so an empty SEC record is not evidence about the amount raised. Healthcare Venture Capital Fund holds no position in Avro Life Science. This page is not an offer to sell or a recommendation to buy any security.