The venture capital fund will finance companies in Europe who are in the early stages of development with the goal of advancing them to regulatory approval and commercialization.
Pictured: European flags flap in the wind outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on July 21, 2022/iStock, Alexandros Michailidis
The German-based venture capital fund Earlybird Health has closed its latest healthcare fund totaling €173 million ($185.4 million), the group announced Thursday.
According to Earlybird Health, this latest fund is “significantly” larger than its previous fund and will help companies in Europe who are in the early stages of development to advance technologies that are close to getting regulatory approval and eventual commercialization. The fund is looking to put its money into companies that are in the biopharma sector as well as diagnostics, digital health, medical devices and R&D tools.
Earlybird noted that the fund is backed by “major institutional investors” in Europe including health insurers, strategic investors as well as public and private investors. The investors include BARMER, a German public health insurer.
“We are proud to pave the way for health insurers to invest in venture capital through our ongoing support for Earlybird Health. This reflects our commitment to fostering innovation within the German and European healthcare ecosystem. We are confident these efforts will yield positive outcomes for patients worldwide,” BARMER CEO Christoph Straub said in a statement.
Earlybird said that the company uses its own AI-based technology, known as Eagle Eye, for its deal sourcing and plans for it to be a cornerstone of its future financing rounds.
“Eagle Eye will soon be the driver of a more effective, efficient, and inclusive deal sourcing and due diligence process for our investment teams. Earlybird Health is proud to set the standard for dynamic and informed deal flow in the European healthcare sector,” Christoph Massner, principal at Earlybird Health, said in a statement.
Earlybird has not been the only fund that has been raising capital to start out 2024. In January, Goldman Sachs Asset Management closed its first life sciences fund, called West Street Life Sciences I, securing $650 million for its arsenal.
Earlier this month, Scion Life Sciences launched an oversubscribed fund of $310 million looking to invest in the life sciences sector. The fund is headed up by three industry veterans including Samuel Hall, former partner at Apple Tree Partners, Aaron Kantoff a former venture partner at Medicxi and Tadd Wessel, a managing partner at private healthcare investment firm Petrichor.
Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.
