Munich-based venture capital firm Wellington Partners has closed its largest life sciences fund to date, at €210m, it was announced last week.
German insurance company Talanx, KfW Capital, a subsidiary of KfW Group bringing together 20 VC experts, and the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Company participated in the fund, along with the European Investment Fund and European Investment Bank.
WHY IT MATTERS
Wellington Partners has been investing since 1998 in businesses working in the fields of medtech, digital health, diagnostics, therapeutics and biotechnology.
With its fifth life sciences fund, the aim is to create a portfolio of between 15 and 20 companies, mainly targeting opportunities in Europe, with a focus on German-speaking areas, and selected investment in North America and Asia.
“We are seeing clear opportunities for superior returns from investing in pioneering European life sciences companies,” said Regina Hodits, managing partner of Wellington Partners Life Sciences.
“Given the world-leading innovation ecosystem in Europe, particularly in the German speaking region, paired with a scarcity of qualified financial investors operating in the European life science arena, we have already identified significant opportunities for WPLS-V [Wellington Partners Life Sciences Fund V],” Hodits added.
THE LARGER TREND
The European digital health and health tech startup scene has seen a number of investments this year, with Malmö-based Flow, maker of a brain stimulation headset and therapy app, focusing on treating and supporting users with depression, landing $1.5m (approx. €1.34m) in funding from Khosla Ventures last month.
In April, Finnish startup Meru Health, which has developed a mental health platform, secured $4.2m (approx. €3.75m) in seed funding from Freestyle Capital, Bonit Capital, Y Combinator, Lifeline Ventures and IT-Farm.
Last week, London-headquartered chatbot maker Babylon Health announced a $550m (approx. €492m) investment, putting the company at a valuation of over $2bn and bringing in new backers.
Meanwhile, another VC firm, Joyance Partners, also aims to accelerate its expansion into Europe after appointing a managing director, having made over 50 investments looking at emerging science and tech in the health and wellness space since its founding in 2017.
ON THE RECORD
“The successful final close for Wellington Partners Life Science Fund V at EUR 210 million, more than double the size of our previous fund, is testament to investor appetite for our specialist investment strategy and to our team’s unrivalled experience and long-standing track record in European life science investing,” Hodits added in a statement.
