Belgian Fund+ raises €125m for biotechs

Open-ended Fund+ had planned to raise €100m to reinvest in innovative Life Sciences companies. However, investors were keen enough to commit an additional €25m. 12 to 15 companies in Belgium will benefit from the fund, which has already started to invest in six companies: three cell therapy companies, Promethera Biosciences SA, MaSTherCell SA and Novadip SA, two companies active in the field of immuno-oncology, iTeos Therapeutics SA, eTheRNA immunotherapies NV, and Ogeda SA (previously Euroscreen SA), active in the treatment of women’s health disorders.

“The Life Sciences sector in Belgium has developed markably over the last decades, to put our country on the world map,” commented Désiré Collen, who created the fund in May last year. “Thanks to our outstanding academic institutions, entrepreneurship and government support, Belgium counts at present over 300 biotech companies. Fund+ intends to bridge the finance gap and support innovative companies with smart money. Fund+ is proud to be supported by a mix of public investors and family offices that share our values.”

Fund+ is an open-ended fund for longterm equity investment in innovative Life Sciences companies. The public shareholders of Fund+ are FPIM/SFPI, SRIW, Meusinvest, Spinventure and Sambrinvest, and there are also a dozen private investors and family offices on board.

The Belgian fundraiser, which operated from Leuven, comes on the heels of a similar fund closed in Spain last week.

Fund+ also strengthened its board with François Fontaine, as representative of FPIM/SFPI, and Debasish Roychowdhury as independent board member and chairman of the newly created Scientific Guidance Committee.