Forbion, a venture capital firm specializing in life sciences, has closed a EUR75-million first close for its bioeconomy vehicle. The vehicle has a EUR150-million target.
The fund is backed by KfW Capital and Rentenbank amongst other institutional and family offices investors.
Forbion BioEconomy Fund I is an expansion of Forbion’s strategy, which has moved away from investing exclusively in companies involved in the medical and pharmaceutical industry to businesses that are concerned with planetary healthcare.
The bioeconomy plan will support companies in the food, agriculture and environmental technology sectors, as well as those in the Series A and B stages.
The strategy will be headed by general partner Alex Hoffmann, and partner Joy Faucher. They expect to amass 10-12 companies.
Hoffmann said: “We’re excited to launch Forbion BioEconomy Fund I. This fund will fill a funding gap that innovative biotech companies need to accelerate their growth and scale-up.
“By focusing our efforts on food, agriculture and materials, as well as environmental technologies, we hope to drive innovation and sustainable practices in the $20 trillion value chains, which will help clean up and feed the world.”
Faucher continued: “We are at a critical juncture in a bio-enabled Revolution, driven by a wealth talent, innovation, and purpose. This combination is catalytic for urgently safeguarding our planet’s future.
“We look forward working with transformational businesses reaching many industries and areas of society to bring them to scale that is meaningful, disruptive and disrupts the status quo.”
Forbion manages assets worth more than EUR3 billion.