Forbion raises in excess of €2 billion for two new funds
- Forbion’s largest fundraising to date, with Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund III raising €1.2 billion and Forbion Ventures Fund VII raising €890 million
- Assets under management now at €5 billion
- Fundraising follows strong performance, with six exits of $1 billion+ within a 12-month period
NAARDEN, The Netherlands, Oct. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Forbion, a leading global life sciences venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe, today announces that it has raised over €2 billion ($2.2 billion) across its two newest funds, Forbion Growth Opportunities III and Forbion Ventures VII, bringing assets under management at Forbion to €5 billion ($5.5 billion). Both funds exceeded their original target sizes and reached €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) and €890 million ($980 million) respectively.
The fundraising enables an increase of both the number of investments and the average size of Forbion’s participation in future portfolio company financings, reflecting the opportunities it sees for superior returns in development-stage life sciences companies. It is anticipated that the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund III and Forbion Ventures Fund VII will each invest in approximately 15 portfolio companies.
Sander Slootweg, Managing Partner and co-founder of Forbion, said: “I thank all our investors for their continued confidence in our ability to source and support innovative biotechs and to deliver impactful returns. With greater levels of capital, we are able to extend more support to our portfolio companies as they grow and seek to maximize their potential. We continue to see great opportunities to deploy capital in Europe and North America, backing talented management teams that develop novel therapeutics with the potential to impact the future of medicine.”
Robbert van de Griendt, General Partner, Investor Relations and Impact, said: “We are delighted to have achieved this record fundraising against a backdrop of volatile market conditions. The strong demand we have seen from both existing and new investors is directly related to our strong and consistent historical returns as well as an impressive string of recent exits and also reflects investors’ conviction in our specialist investment strategy and in the positive fundamentals of our sector.”
A track record of strong performance
Forbion’s latest fundraising builds on its successful track-record of generating consistently impactful returns based on an investment strategy focused on companies with strong fundamentals, anchored in unique science and deep due diligence, while its platform approach enables its funds to support biotechs through company building (Ventures funds) and company expansion (Growth Opportunities funds). Following this approach has led to many valuable exits over time, including, most recently, that of Yellow Jersey Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Numab Therapeutics, Mariana Oncology and Aiolos Bio. Forbion’s success has led to it being recognized as the Top Performing European VC Manager as part of Preqin’s1 2024 awards. Forbion has 58 active investments, and has led or co-led 88% of the initial investment rounds of the 26 portfolio companies across Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund II and Forbion Ventures Fund VI.2
Brian Frieser, Principal Portfolio Manager PE & Infrastructure at MN, a major Dutch pension advisor, said: “Our pension fund clients are dedicated to achieving the best possible risk-return for their participants. Investments in biotech not only promise strong returns but also make a positive societal impact. The capital commitments to Forbion’s new fund on behalf of our clients are expected to contribute significantly to this two-sided goal.”
Investing in cutting edge science
Since its launch over two decades ago, Forbion has made 128 investments. During this time, Forbion’s portfolio companies have contributed to advancing medical science and innovation through the development of many breakthrough therapies, including pioneering the development of new technologies such as gene and immune therapies, and via 256 scientific publications. At the end of 2023, active portfolio companies reported a total of 129 drug programs under development and/or in discovery and 80% of drug programs were ‘disease modifying’, in line with Forbion’s focus on enabling the development of novel therapeutics in critical areas of unmet medical need.3
Expertise and partnerships
Forbion’s team of over 30 investment professionals and drug development experts makes it one of the largest life sciences venture capital teams in Europe. Its portfolio companies also benefit from the deep industry expertise of Forbion’s 15 operating and venture partners, and its strategic collaborations with industry leading service providers such as Lonza, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Charles River Laboratories. Forbion supports its portfolio companies from its headquarters in Naarden, The Netherlands, its Munich office, as well as from its recently opened office in Boston, Massachusetts.
For more information, please contact:
Forbion Investor Relations
Email: Robbert.van.de.Griendt@forbion.com
General Partner IR & Impact
Forbion Communications
Email: laura.asbjornsen@forbion.com
Head of Communications
Brunswick Group
Ayesha Bharmal, Charis Gresser
Email: Forbion@Brunswickgroup.com
About Forbion
Forbion is a leading global venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe and offices in Naarden, The Netherlands, Munich, Germany and Boston, USA. Forbion invests in innovative biotech companies, managing approximately €5 billion across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio-) pharmaceutical drug development. In addition, Forbion leverages its biotech expertise beyond human health to address ‘planetary health’ challenges through its BioEconomy fund strategy, which invests in companies developing sustainable solutions in food, agriculture, materials, and environmental technologies. Forbion’s team consists of over 30 investment professionals that have built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with 128 investments across 11 funds. Forbion’s record of sourcing, building and guiding life sciences companies has resulted in many approved breakthrough therapies and valuable exits. Forbion typically selects impactful investments that will positively affect the health and well-being of people and the planet, as well as meet its financial return objectives. The firm is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early-stage funds, especially focused on Benelux and Germany.
About Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund III
Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund III is focused on investing primarily in European as well as North American later-stage biopharma companies developing novel therapies in areas of high medical need.
About Forbion Ventures Fund VII
Forbion Ventures Fund VII will build a portfolio of innovative therapeutics-focused biotechs, both existing companies as well as NewCos, (co-) founded by Forbion, created around assets sourced from pharma or academic institutions, or around proven management teams.
For more information, please visit: www.forbion.com
1 Preqin awards are compiled using public domain information and data reported to Preqin by the participants; they are not independently verified or assessed. Preqin cannot therefore guarantee the accuracy of the information provided
2 As of 30 September 2024
3 Source: Forbion’s Impact & ESG report 2023
