BroadOak Capital was founded in 2006 with the goal of staying in the biotechnology business while focusing on the research and diagnostics tools and services in the space. Research tools encompass everything in a lab, including low-tech instruments such as hoods and freezers to expensive analytical equipment and reagents, according to Snider. These tools are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but are used to create products that are regulated by the FDA.

The company is also interested in investing in the pharmaceutical services industry, which could include good laboratory practice testing services, contract research organization services, or clinical trial and trial recruitment services.

"The products that might become a drug are innovative, but oftentimes they require an innovative tool that cracked an old problem that people were having a hard time getting around," Snider said.

Over the last decade, BroadOak has made over 50 growth capital investments within the biotech space. The company continues to be focused on investing in research tools and services within the cell and gene therapy, single-cell analysis, and synthetic biology spheres.

When asked what advice he has for scientific entrepreneurs, Snider said, "View the financial community as a collaborator. When you are working on a hard problem, you want to bring on people with multiple expertise and diverse ways of thinking ... If you view them as a collaborator rather than someone who doesn't see the world the way you do, you end up with a mutually beneficial experience."

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