V-Bio Ventures launches second fund at €78m

With the investment, the Belgian biotech sector gets a cash injection. According to V-Bio Ventures, the new fund will build on the investment strategy of V-Bio Fund 1, launched in 2015. V-Bio Fund 1 put money into new start-up companies such as Aphea.Bio, Augustine Therapeutics and AgomAb. The fund helped in the internationalisation of companies such as Orionis Biosciences, Confo Therapeutics and PrecirixV-Bio, and in development of treatments by Oxular, Syndesi Therapeutics and ExeVir. V-Bio Ventures is a preferred partner of VIB, a reknown Belgium-based life sciences institute with strengths in in basic and translational life sciences research .

V-Bio Fund 2 will invest into healthcare companies or those focused on sustainable agriculture. The fund supports companies which either have an asset-centric focus or are based on differentiated technology platforms. V-Bio will continue to be active throughout Europe with a focus on company creation in Belgium.

V-Bio Ventures’ cornerstone investor is the European Investment Fund (EIF). EIF’s contribution is supported by InnovFin Equity, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) set up under the Investment Plan for Europe.