Imperial College: France’s Kurma Biofund seals relationship with Imperial Innovations

09 Dec 2009 | Network Updates

Kurma Biofund, a new venture capital fund based in Paris specialising in Life Sciences and Healthcare, has announced plans to collaborate with Imperial Innovations, the technology transfer arm of Imperial College London.

Kurma has established strong strategic relationships with the Institut Pasteur and the Institut Curie in France, the founding institutes of the fund, which recently announced the closing of a first round of financing of €50 million.

One objective of the Fund is to extend selectively its relationships with leading institutions in other parts of Europe, leading Kurma to establish relationship with Imperial Innovations.

“We have sought to expand the Kurma network by working with a small number of eminent research institutes and sharing access to their technology transfer skills and scientific investment opportunities,” said Alain Maiore joint Managing Partner of Kurma. “Our goal is to build strong, competitive businesses that are based upon the very best in innovative sciences, and, where possible, to bring together a range of skills and intellectual property from different partners within our network.”

“We are delighted to be working with Thierry Laugel, Alain Maiore and their team at Kurma”, said Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations. “We are currently reviewing several co-investment opportunities together with Thierry and Alain and their team, and look forward to concluding a number of deals with Kurma in due course.”

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