Truffle Capital said this week that the initial closing of its new venture fund, Truffle BioMedTech, brought in $102 million (€85 million) of a hoped-for $240 million.
Led by European and Asian institutional and corporate investors and family offices, the fund will look to sniff out “major breakthroughs” at North American and European research centers and spin them out as up to 12 startups in France, Truffle said.
“As a major European venture capital player in the fields of interventional medicine, connected bioprostheses and biotechnology, Truffle Capital attracts prominent investors, scientists, engineers, clinicians and entrepreneurs who share its vision,” co-founder and CEO Dr. Philippe Pouletty said in prepared remarks. “Truffle’s entrepreneur-investor business model works well, as demonstrated by the recent successes of Vexim, Carmat, Symetis, Pharnext, Carbios and Abivax, all founded or cofounded by Truffle Capital, alongside world-class management and research teams. After selecting major breakthroughs from top universities in North America and Europe, Truffle BioMedTech will create start-ups in France, each with the potential to become a global leader thanks to a disruptive and life-changing medical device, drug or healthcare product. For each start-up, Truffle Capital sets up an ambitious R&D team, an experienced management team, and attracts co-investors to promote growth to advanced clinical, manufacturing and commercial stages.”
“Sticking to our successful entrepreneur/investor business model, we are now focusing our fundraising on institutional investors, corporates and family offices, while maintaining our funds dedicated to retail investors that benefit from tax incentives,” added chairman Patrick Kron and co-CEOs Pouletty and Bernard-Louis Roques.
The new fund has already backed a trio of French concerns, Truffle said: HoliStick Medical, chaired by Truffle partner Antoine Pau; ArteDrone, chaired by Truffle partner Alain Chevallier; and Nanosive, chaired by Pouletty.
