Kurma Partners closes growth fund at €160m
French venture capital expert Kurma Partners has closed its Growth Opportunities Fund at €160m and targets a final closing at €250m.
The new fund is aimed at accelerating life sciences companies in advanced development stage, which is very similar to the recently presented EU Scale-up Initiative. Kurma Partners has thus received support for the fund from the European Investment Fund (EIF) that will manage the EU Scale-up Initiative, as well as from Bpifrance, the Belgian Growth Fund and BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity, SFPI, BNP Paribas Fortis and Groupe Pasteur Mutualité. Eurazeo, which recently increased its stake in Kurma Partners, is also an anchor investor in this fund.
Kurma Partners new fund will primarily target unlisted European companies addressing an ‘unmet medical need’ and in transition from the research and development phase to a commercial enterprise. The aim is to invest in 15 companies or so.