The 2026 fiscal year was a record-breaking one for Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public venture capital arm.
The New Haven-based agency announced Wednesday it generated a record $66.5 million in cash proceeds and a combined $76.1 million from all investment activities during the fiscal year, which ended June 30.
Over the 12-month time period, CI invested $59.3 million in 75 early-stage companies and venture funds, with those deals leveraging an additional $1.2 billion in outside capital.
The organization reported investing $18.9 million in the healthcare sector, $14.8 million in the technology sector, $12.7 in climate technology, $6.9 million in venture funds and $6 million in consumer companies.
The record results were driven by several significant portfolio exits, including:
- Halda Therapeutics, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $3.05 billion;
- Quantum Circuits Inc., which was acquired by D-Wave Quantum for $550 million, and
- Veradermics, which raised $256.3 million from its New York Stock Exchange initial public offering.
The fiscal 2026 cash proceeds is a significant improvement from $43.2 million in cash proceeds generated a year earlier.
In fiscal 2025, CI invested $45.8 million in 67 companies.
CI CEO Matt McCooe said fiscal 2026 was a landmark year for his organization.
“The success of Halda Therapeutics and Veradermics — respectively becoming the largest private biotech M&A transaction and the best-performing biotech IPO in the market at the time — demonstrates the trajectory New Haven and Connecticut are on as they continue to emerge as global leaders in life sciences innovation,” he said.
In the past year, CI also launched its AI/Q Fund, targeting scalable commercial AI and quantum ventures.
