Eir Ventures, a Nordic Life Science Venture Fund, today announced a first close of its new Fund of EUR 76 million. Eir Ventures will invest in innovative companies with products and technologies that address significant unmet medical needs and have the potential to improve the life of patients. The fund is launched with, among other investors, a EUR 20 million investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF), made possible under the European Fund for Strategic Investments, main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
Eir Ventures is launched by four senior life science investors, Dr Magnus Persson, Stephan Christgau, Andreas Segerros are the Managing partners, and Amanda Hayward is special partner. The Fund is domiciled in Sweden and will have offices in Stockholm and Copenhagen. The fund will invest in high return potential opportunities in the Nordics, in Europe as well as in the US, but with a particular focus on innovations from the leading universities and incubators in the Nordics. Eir Ventures has already established collaborations with select Nordic Universities.
“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 develops new treatments emerging 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.” Says Simon Kollerup, Danish Minister of Industry, Business and Financial affairs.
“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 founder team and the fund will be well-positioned to find and further develop companies that solve tomorrow’s health challenges.” says Alain Godard, Chief Executive at the European Investment Fund.
Managing Partner Dr Magnus Persson added “In the current environment, where financing has become even more sparse and start-ups are struggling to fund development, and where 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”.
Managing Partner Stephan Christgau commented “The Nordic region is year after year ranked as one of the most innovative areas in Europe, with a stable business environment and a great legacy of medical innovation, yet the region is severely underserved with professional venture capital. We see this as a unique opportunity that Eir Ventures will leverage.”
Eir Ventures will have offices in Stockholm and Copenhagen.
Background information:
Eir Ventures is a Life science focused venture fund, that with a strong foundation in the Nordic Biotech ecosystem will invest in early stage as well as more mature opportunities. The fund initiates investment activities in 2020 and will seek opportunities addressing significant unmet medical needs for new therapies, medical technology and digital health. The fund is registered in Sweden and has offices in Stockholm and Copenhagen.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment.
The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. It provides first loss guarantees enabling the EIB to invest in more, often riskier projects. The projects and agreements approved for financing under EFSI are expected to mobilise €486 bn in investment, supporting over 1.2 million start-ups and SMEs across the EU.
Press Contacts:
Eir Ventures:
Magnus Persson +46 737314146, magnus.persson@eirventures.eu
Stephan Christgau +45 30674790, Stephan.christgau@eirventures.eu
Website : www.eirventures.eu
European Commission:
Siobhán Millbright, +32 460 75 73 61, Siobhan.millbright@ec.europea.eu
EIB Group:
Tim Smit, Tel: +352 691 28 64 23, t.smit@eib.org, Follow us on Twitter
Website: www.eib.org/press - Press Office: +352 4379 21000 – press@eib.org
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