EIF backs Early-Stage Life Science VC teams

The European Investment Fund, European Union's specialised financial body for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), announces cornerstone investments in the funds BioMedInvest II L.P ("BMI II") fund and Life Sciences Partners IV B.V ("LSP IV"). 

BMI II, a dedicated early stage venture capital (VC) fund based in Basel, had a first closing at CHF 95m, including the cornerstone commitment from the ERP-EIF Dachfonds managed by EIF on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). BMI II will focus on innovative private human healthcare companies in German speaking countries.

The Fund's managers, BioMed Partners, have invested in over 25 companies in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, drug development diagnostics and medical devices sectors and have achieved a track record of successful exits through IPOs and trade sales to major pharmaceutical enterprises.  

LSP IV,  a dedicated early stage VC fund as well, is based in Amsterdam and Munich The fund, which focuses on human life sciences companies in Europe, had a first closing at EUR 75m, including the cornerstone commitment from the ERP-EIF Dachfonds. The LSP Group has invested in over 60 companies in the life science field, including drug development, diagnostics, medical instruments, agriculture, food, cleantech and biofuels and has a track record of more than 25 successful exits. 

Both teams are experienced life sciences investors who will no doubt benefit from the increasing amount of good investment opportunities in the life sciences VC market, particularly in Germany and German speaking countries.  

Dr. Markus Schillo, Principal at EIF, commented: "The increasing maturity of the European life science industry, combined with the improvement in managerial experience and the pressure on company valuations as a result of the current market conditions create attractive opportunities for life science funds looking for investments and able to support companies during their development process. We are convinced that BioMedInvest and Life Sciences Partners will be able to capitalise on these opportunities and are pleased to have the possibility to back such promising teams."

"These two recent closings in today's challenging environment show that investing in European life sciences companies in their early and development stages remains an attractive value proposition for investors with long term strategies" added Dr. Matthias Ummenhofer, Deputy Head of Equity Fund Investments at EIF and Head of the ERP-EIF Dachfonds team.

The ERP-EIF Dachfonds invests in VC funds focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on German-based high-tech early stage companies. To date some EUR 350m are committed in 13 funds, which in turn have helped raise another EUR 1.4bn from private investors, highlighting EIF's leverage effect on the market.

 EIF's central mission is to support Europe's SMEs by helping them to access finance.  EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, regional development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. 

For further information, please contact Delphine Munro, d.munro@eif.org, or visit EIF's website www.eif.org