Measure
Make gaps visible
Decisions improve when scientific, operating, and commercial readiness can be discussed in the same frame.
About AVIVA Ventures
Built by operators who stay close to the work.
AVIVA is an intelligent company-building system that turns scientific discoveries into investable, executable companies.
We combine experienced operators with a continuously evolving readiness and operating system that identifies gaps, prioritizes decisions, and guides companies from discovery through formation, financing and scale.
Mission
Close the operating gap between discovery and a durable company.
AVIVA Ventures brings more than 100 years of combined pharma, biotech, technology, and investor experience to the work of turning university science into companies that can advance toward patients.
Vision
One readiness standard for the decisions that move science forward.
Universities, founders, and investors use the same rigorous view of readiness to make formation, financing, and company-building decisions.
Our difference
Experience you can put to work.
AVIVA Ventures is a company-building studio. Its operators use an AI-guided readiness system to evaluate evidence, identify operating gaps, and set priorities for each stage. The team stays involved as those priorities become company-building work.
Sequence
Build in the right order
The company plan follows the dependencies that create value and reduce avoidable delay.
Own
Put operators in the work
Experienced leaders take responsibility for milestones, teams, and the decisions between them.
Reassess
Readiness keeps moving
Each new stage changes the evidence, team, capital, and commercial requirements around the asset.
Leadership
Experience across the full company arc.
AVIVA is led by operators who have formed, financed, launched, and scaled life sciences companies across their careers.
Dr. Stella K. Vnook
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer
Stella is a life sciences executive, founder, and board director with 25 years of experience across early research, clinical development, company formation, and commercialization. Her career includes managed markets, market access, pricing, licensing, M&A, private financing, and public offerings.
She has led organizations through startup and turnaround phases and built strategic partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies, including Merck & Co. Connect on LinkedIn
Doctorates in Economics, Global Public Health, and Pharmacy (Oncology) · MBA
Robbin Miller
Director of Operations
Robbin builds the operational infrastructure that emerging biotechnology companies need to execute. Her work spans strategic coordination, compliance organization, investor readiness, company systems, and executive support.
She focuses on precision, discretion, and clear ownership across sensitive operating and investor-facing work.
Selected leadership experience
Operating depth across development, financing, and launch.
The results below reflect the leadership team's experience before and alongside AVIVA.
Merck & Co.
14 years inside global pharma
Co-led the $41.1B Merck and Schering-Plough managed markets integration. Launches include Gardasil, Januvia, Vytorin, Zetia, and Emend.
Catalent (NYSE: CTLT)
The largest CDMO IPO
Led through an approximately $870M public raise, with revenue scaling from $344M to $2.1B.
Commercial leadership
15+ product launches
Across neurology, cardiology, oncology, infectious disease, metabolic disorders, and rare disease.
Active portfolio
24+ companies supported
Across oncology, rare disease, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and cell and gene therapy.
100+Years of combined pharma, biotech, technology, and investor experience
$100M+Raised across prior ventures
$8B+Peak revenue across prior product launches
100%Woman-owned and woman-founded