CapMan Life Science IV fund closes at €54M

Funding opportunity

The Finnish venture capital firm CapMan closed its Life Science IV fund at €54 million for investments in medical technology and healthcare services companies, mainly in the Nordic countries.

Eight institutions participated, two of them new investors in CapMan funds. CapMan’s own commitment is €10 million.

Partner Jerome Bouix said he was happy to have expanded the investor base beyond the Nordic countries, especially given the current focus on private equity buyouts. “During CapMan Life Science IV’s fundraising period the investor appetite has mainly been directed at buyout funds and venture allocations have been limited,” he said.

CapMan Life Science IV, the firm’s largest life sciences fund to date, has made investments in three companies already: Neoventa Medical AB, a specialist in feotal monitoring in perinatal healthcare; ProstaLund AB, a manufacturer of devices for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia; and QuickCool AB, which is developing a new method for cooling of the brain to limit brain damage following injury.

To date CapMan’s Life Sciences funds have invested in 18 companies, exiting nine of them.

The number of potential investment targets is at a good level both in terms of quantity and quality, says the company. “Our team sees over 80 per cent of the Nordic investment opportunities within the fund’s focus and a significant number of potential deals coming from the rest of Europe. In the next few years the fund will make investments in six to eight new companies,” said Jan Lundahl, Senior Partner and Head of CapMan Life Science.