Annick Verween, head of the Biotope incubator in Flanders, sets out her predictions for the biotechnology sector in 2025
Annick Verween, head of the Biotope incubator in Flanders. Photo credits: Biotope
Biotech start-ups will see more venture capital (VC) investment this year, according to Annick Verween, who leads Biotope, an incubator set up by the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology. “Part of this is a prediction, and part of this is a very strong hope,” she told Science|Business.
Verween also expects company founders to experience more risk aversion from VC investors. Having to tick more boxes to reassure them will lengthen fundraising cycles, even for the most promising innovations.
With average fundraising cycles already topping 9-12 months, this could be detrimental to start-ups for whom even a short delay in accessing financing can be deadly.
The problem is that a lot of investors have been burnt in recent years by entrepreneurs with ideas that sound great, but then fail to deliver. Developing foolproof solutions that investors cannot fault is the…
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