New Dutch fund to bridge the equity gap

Fund created

BioGeneration Ventures announced the first closing of its BioGeneration Ventures Fund at €13 million, to invest in Dutch start-ups and early stage life sciences companies.

The fund has the backing of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research in combination with the holding company of Leiden University and ABN-AMRO Capital Life Sciences as the lead private investors.

The aim of the fund is to tackle the Netherlands’ innovation paradox. In common with other European peers, universities and research institutes in the country perform cutting-edge research, but find it difficult to commercialise it and generate economic value.

Also in common with other countries in Europe, one of the key reasons is the lack of funds for start-up and early stage companies. Although generally they do not require major investments in this phase, these companies do not meat the criteria of mainstream venture capital firms.

BioGeneration Ventures will invest broadly across the life sciences, in pharma, food, agriculture and industrial biotechnology.

“This fund is a unique combination of public and private funding aimed to support start-up and early stage companies in the life sciences in the Netherlands,” said Edward van Wezel, Managing Partner. “We aim to offer more than just funding; we will actively support young companies in setting up and developing their business and raising additional funding.”

“We have created the first fund of [significant] size and focus in the Netherlands, supported by a team of experienced professionals with a proven track record.”

“We know from experience that it is hard to get new life sciences companies firmly on their feet,” says Diederik Zijderveld, director of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative. “Generating a steady flow of new, economic, entities is a central objective of our strategy.”

“Although Dutch universities are world-class, the Netherlands is still significantly below the European average in terms of the commercialisation of technologies,” said Gerben Kuyper of ABN-AMRO Capital Life Sciences. “This represents a clear opportunity for a team with the experience and dedication of BioGeneration Ventures.”