Bay Area Lyme Foundation Launches Bay Area Lyme Ventures as First Impact Investment Fund to Support Entrepreneurs and Companies Advancing Lyme Disease Solutions

Lyme Ventures
By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bay Area Lyme Foundation Launches Bay Area Lyme Ventures as First Impact Investment Fund to Support Entrepreneurs and Companies Advancing Lyme Disease Solutions

New venture philanthropy fund announces initial investments and will help guide game-changing Lyme diagnostics and therapeutics to commercialization

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., September 4, 2025 — Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced the launch of Bay Area Lyme Ventures (Lyme Ventures), a bold new impact fund that is the first designed to attract and drive investment to promising tick-borne diagnostics and therapeutics nearing commercialization. By bringing together strategic research investments, collaborative partnerships, and patient-focused resources, Lyme Ventures aims to advance innovative diagnostics and therapeutics to fill significant gaps that exist in medical care. Today, the fund announces investments in Aces Diagnostics and LymeAlert, both of which are designed to help people bitten by ticks navigate the complicated process of getting an accurate diagnosis.

“This new chapter expands Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s commitment to accelerating innovative diagnostics and therapeutic breakthroughs, as there is an extreme scarcity of support for entrepreneurs and companies developing accurate solutions for patients and clinicians in tick-borne disease,” said Linda Giampa, who led Bay Area Lyme Foundation for the past 12 years and is now the founder and managing director of Bay Area Lyme Ventures.

Lyme Ventures will complement Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s continued commitment to funding scientific research by advancing promising discoveries into clinical development and, ultimately, through commercialization. To date, Bay Area Lyme Foundation has granted more than $30 million toward research, while Lyme Ventures has a goal of investing $5 million by 2027 into companies working to bring solutions to market. Proceeds from these philanthropic investments will fund research projects at Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

Twin Cities Lyme Foundation and Bay Area Lyme Foundation Unite Efforts to Further Advance the Fight Against Tick-Borne Diseases

Lisa and Pete Najarian
By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Twin Cities Lyme Foundation and Bay Area Lyme Foundation Unite Efforts to Further Advance the Fight Against Tick-Borne Diseases

Twin Cities Lyme Foundation Founder Lisa Najarian and her husband Former CNBC Correspondent Peter Najarian to join the Advisory Board of Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Portola Valley, CA, May 29, 2024 — Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, today announced it has united efforts with Twin Cities Lyme Foundation (TCLF), a 6-year-old organization focused on raising awareness and aiding in the early detection of Lyme disease throughout Minnesota, to further advance the fight against tick-borne diseases in the Midwest.

“We have long collaborated with Twin Cities Lyme Foundation and are impressed with their work in addition to being grateful for the ongoing partnership, support and efforts of its founders over the past 8 years,” said Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. “Our national footprint allows us to identify innovative research throughout the US, particularly on the East and West coasts, and provide valuable information about tick ecology across the country. Uniting our efforts further strengthens our work in the Midwest and creates greater opportunities to advance our mission of making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure.”

When Non-Profits Invest Like Venture Capitalists

By Bay Area Lyme

The following post is the second in a series of articles by Linda Giampa, Executive Director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation, for Money Inc.

The first article can be found here on our site or at Money Inc.

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Last month, Linda offered five steps that have had a positive impact on the success of Bay Area Lyme Foundation.  Over the next several months, she is offering a closer look at each of these steps

For years, venture capitalists and non-profit organizations were seen as polar opposites, the antithesis of one another.  But, as non-profit leaders, we can learn a great deal from our venture capitalist counterparts. Venture capitalists aim to ensure the companies they fund succeed, and our role as non-profits is to ensure our mission is accomplished. Both are conduits entrusted with investing the financial resources of others – venture capitalists are beholden to their investors while nonprofits have the same responsibility to their donors.

The Top 5 Secrets of Successful Nonprofits

By Linda Giampa, Executive Director


The following post is a reprint of an article by Linda Giampa, Executive Director for Bay Area Lyme Foundation, for Money Inc.

The article is the first in a series where she shares her observations having made the transition from for profit technology to the nonprofit world here at Bay Area Lyme.

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While the high-tech business sector is so fast-paced that every day offers valuable progress, my days as CEO in this industry still left me wanting to do more.  As many of you can appreciate, I longed to truly make a difference in the lives of other people.  And although I did get incredible satisfaction from our company’s progress, I wanted my contribution to society to be more than helping to improve the speed and efficiency of the business world.

So, I decided to make a major life change.

As I considered a range of non-profit opportunities, I focused on identifying a role that would allow me to continue the fast-pace I was used to.  It was also important that I use the leadership, operations, marketing and sales skills I had learned and honed through years climbing the ranks of Oracle and helping to start and run several other software companies.