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Photo: European flag fluttering in the wind outside the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium/iStock, Alexandros Michailidis
One of Europe’s most established and active venture capital firms has announced a new investment with the backing of a health insurance company, with the aim of supporting Europe’s early-stage startups through advanced technologies that move them closer to regulatory approval and commercialization. The fund was closed.
Last week, Germany-based venture capital firm Early Bird Health announced a €173 million ($185.4 million) loan to European companies across healthcare sectors, including digital health, diagnostics, medical devices, and biopharmaceuticals. ) announced that it had closed its fund.
Rabab Nasrallah, Principal of Earlybird, provided additional details: biospace About the fund’s investment approach and the company’s potential to expand its activities outside Europe.
Nasrallah said the company launched the new Early Bird Health Fund in response to the many “great innovations” it has seen in the European Union. Earlybird manages other funds such as Digital West (Western Europe), Digital East (Emerging Europe) and Health, but this is a larger fund than the previous one to invest in late-stage pre-clinical and early-stage clinical companies in the medical sector. We have decided to establish a fund.
Nasrallah said that with the new health fund, Early Bird plans to strategically link corporate fundraising efforts between A series rounds and B series rounds, which do not involve large amounts of capital.
The fund has previously made several investments in the biotech space, including Gray Wolf Therapeutics and Arecium Therapeutics, which were in the preclinical stage when Early Bird invested, but are now seeing more significant activity. Clinical trials have begun, Nasrallah noted.
Although Earlybird focuses on cancer-related companies, it also looks at potential investments in cancer-related startups. The company is also interested in future investments in other biopharmaceutical areas, such as fibrosis and the central nervous system.
But Nasrallah hastened to add that Early Bird is “agnostic” when it comes to modalities. The fund has not previously invested in the cell and gene therapy space, but he said it is an area the company is “actively considering”, particularly as non-viral approaches become more popular. .
“We’re looking closer to the clinic, so it’s not too early in the preclinical phase, but probably late in the preclinical phase, or already in the clinic, where we can see the impact of our investment,” Nasrallah added. Ta.
Early Bird is currently focused on investing in European companies, but Nasrallah said the fund could invest in companies in the United States and Israel. Still, companies need some foothold in Europe, she explained.
Nasrallah said Early Bird plans to complete its U.S. investment soon. He also said the firm was focused on the UK, noting that since the Brexit decision many European funds have had limited amounts invested in the UK. Earlybird is currently “actively” considering UK-based investments.
What Nasrallah sees as an advantage to investing in European biotech is that the ecosystem is full of promising technologies. With valuations still low, it is more affordable for biotech companies to start clinical trials in Europe before the US.
Early Bird joins a growing number of life sciences and biotech VC firms that closed in early 2024. This month, Goldman Sachs Asset Management closed a $650 million fund and three industry veterans launched Scion Life Sciences with a $310 million war chest.
Tyler Patchin is a staff writer at. biospace. Contact tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.
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