European investment company Gimv has launched its fifth investment platform with a focus on venture capital investments in innovative life sciences companies.
Gimv said after growth in its existing healthcare platform, a dedicated life sciences platform will strengthen its role in the international life science venture capital ecosystem. The company added its key investment focus remains to finding solutions to the many unmet healthcare needs.
The life sciences platform builds on the success and returns generated by portfolio companies over four decades, including Ablynx, where Gimv was a founding investor, and Covagen, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Current investments include Precirix, ImCheck, and ImmunOs, which recently raised $74 million in a Series B round led by Gimv.
Gimv said this new fund can further strengthen its capacity to invest more, with a typical initial investment of €10-15 million ($10.5-15.7 million) per company. The aim is to double its portfolio to around 20 companies. Gimv will also continue its series A and B investment strategy with a particular focus on drug development. Other investment areas will include medical technology, digital health, life science tools and agro-biotechnology.
Active in June
Bram Vanparys, a partner in the Gimv Healthcare Platform, has been appointed to lead the new team of seven dedicated life science venture capital professionals, which will be further expanded over the coming years.
Bart Diels, managing partner and head of healthcare at Gimv, said: “After the establishment of a strong portfolio within the healthcare platform, it is the right time to launch a targeted life sciences platform. We’re convinced that our specialized approach, backed by an experienced team, is one of the core differentiators of Gimv’s investment strategy.”
In addition to the ImmunOs funding, Gimv has been very active this month. It participated in ImCheck Therapeutics’ announcement of the close of a €96 million ($103 million) financing round, and acquired an interest of approximately 30% in French fencing company Picot.
Cover image: Shutterstock
Partnering 2030: The Biotech Perspective 2023
