Physic Ventures raises healthy $190M

Amidst all the doom and gloom in the venture industry, one new firm has sprung up like a daisy in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district: Physic Ventures, which invests in health care, not for treatment, but for prevention, has closed on at least $190 million, according to a regulatory filing.

Will Rosenzweig, one of the firm’s managing directors, says that he’s not at liberty to discuss the fund.

The firm began to come together in 2006, when Rosenzweig and Managing Director Dion Madsen, crossed paths within Uniliver, the consumer goods conglomerate. Uniliver had backed a small fund that Rosenzweig was running called Great Spirit Ventures, while Madsen ran Uniliver’s corporate venture arm.

Uniliver then wanted to simply become an anchor in a new firm, and Physic Ventures was born.

Physic has already made a number of investments, including Expresso Fitness, which makes Web-enabled cardio fitness systems, and Dreamerz Foods, which makes little chocolate “pillows” stuffed with melotonin.