European Life Science Venture Fund Raises €472M

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19 Oct. 2021. A venture capital company raised €472 million ($US 548 million) for investments in life science and medical device start-ups in Europe. Sofinnova Partners in Paris says with its new Capital X fund, the company has now raised more than €1 billion in the last 12 months.

Sofinnova Partners says it looks for early stage enterprises with disruptive technologies for its investments. The company identifies new companies developing biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, or industrial biotechnology solutions to  sustainability issues. Sofinnova Partners says its funding targets are often technologies spun off from academic labs or assets developed in and later spun off from corporate labs.

The company says it invests in start-ups at various stages from seed to later-stage rounds. Moreover, says Sofinnova Partners, it will take the lead in forming new companies and a primary role in financing a new company’s first venture round, known as series A. While most of its investments are made in Europe, Sofinnova Partners says it also invests in companies in other parts of the world.

Investors from Europe, Asia, and North America

Capital X is Sofinniva Partners’ tenth fund in its series of investment funds, which the company says is raised from pension funds, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, corporate investors, and prominent family offices — private wealth management advisory services from across Europe, Asia, and North America. Sofinniva Partners says in the past 12 months it has raised more than €1 billion for its various investment funds, the most recent being its Medtech Acceleration Fund in July supporting medical device start-ups.

Henrijette Richter, managing partner of Sofinnova Partners, says in a company statement, the €472 million Capital X is “the largest fund dedicated to early-stage health care investments in Europe.” Richter adds, “This is an important milestone for Sofinnova Partners. Capital X will allow us to leverage over 30 years of cumulative experience perfecting this strategy.” Sofinnova Partners says it has more than €2.5 billion in total assets under its management.

Science & Enterprise reported on several Sofinnova Partners investments since 2012. The most recent Sofinnova Partners story is on its participation in a €60 million ($US 73 million) investment in Muna Therapeutics in Copenhagen, Denmark, in July 2021, a start-up discovering treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

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