Eir Ventures announces first close of €76m fund to leverage untapped potential of health care innovation

Eir Ventures announces first close of €76m fund to leverage untapped potential of health care innovation

Published: 13-07-2020 14:05:00 | By: Pie Kamau | hits: 4129 | Tags:

Eir Ventures, a Nordic Life Science Venture Fund, announced a first close of its new fund of €76 million. With a strong base in the Nordic region and a team of experienced life science investors, Eir Ventures will invest in innovative companies with products and technologies addressing significant unmet medical need and a potential to improve the life of patients.

The fund was launched with support from a strong investor syndicate comprising Saminvest, the European Investment Fund (EIF), Vækstfonden, Novo Holdings, as well as additional private investors.

Eir Ventures has been set up by an experienced and successful team of life science investors: Dr Magnus Persson, Stephan Christgau, Andreas Segerros are the Managing Partners, and Amanda Hayward is Special Partner. It has offices in Stockholm and Copenhagen. Eir Ventures will invest in high return potential opportunities in the Nordics, Europe and the US. The fund will have a particular focus on innovations from the leading universities and incubators in the Nordics and has established collaborations with select Nordic Universities.

Dr Magnus Persson, Managing Partner of Eir Ventures, commented, “In the current environment, where financing has become even more sparse and startups are struggling to fund development, healthcare innovation is more important than ever. We see great potential to bring some of the highly innovative treatments to patients with underserved medical needs, while also bringing outstanding returns to our investors.”

Stephan Christgau, Managing Partner of Eir Ventures, added, “The Nordic region is ranked year after year as one of the most innovative areas in Europe, with a stable business environment and a successful track record of medical innovation and world-class science. However, the region is severely underserved with professional venture capital. Eir Ventures sees this as a unique opportunity that it will leverage.”

Eir Ventures is backed by a strong investor syndicate of Swedish and Danish institutions including: Saminvest, a venture capital company founded by the Swedish Government, Vækstfonden, the Danish state’s investment fund, Novo Holdings, as well as the European Investment Fund.

Peder Hasslev, Chief Executive Officer at Saminvest said: “We are very pleased to see a new life science fund that focuses on early stage companies in the Swedish ecosystem, in close contact with the university sector. We firmly believe Eir Ventures is well positioned to take advantage of investment opportunities in the innovative life science sector in Scandinavia.''

Simon Kollerup, Danish Minister for Industry, Business and Financial affairs said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has been a powerful illustration that healthcare is a truly global issue, and that there is a constant need for new treatments and therapies. Hence, it is essential that we invest in emerging companies that develop new treatments from Danish and Nordic University innovation and life science entrepreneurs in the region. I am thrilled that Vækstfonden can help launch and fund Eir Ventures.''

Alain Godard, Chief Executive at the European Investment Fund said: “This EIF investment reflects the importance of sustaining innovative players in this sector, made all the more crucial by the ongoing situation. Eir Ventures has a strong founding team and the fund will be well-positioned to find and further develop companies that solve tomorrow’s health challenges.''

Søren Møller, Managing Partner for Novo Seeds, the early stage investment arm of Novo Holdings said: “Novo Seeds has been investing in the Nordic life science industry for more than 10 years, and we have seen steady growth in number and quality of investment opportunities. We are therefore very excited to be one of the founding investors of Eir Ventures. In addition to making a profitable fund investment, we look forward to working with the team to translate more Nordic innovation into startups.''

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