Sofinnova Partners, a Paris, France-based venture capital firm specialized in life sciences, held the first closing of its latest fund, at €106m.
Limited partners in Sofinnova Industrial Biotech I (Sofinnova IB I) included European institutions and major international industrial players, from energy, chemical and agricultural sectors including several returning investors from the Sofinnova Green Seed Fund raised in 2012 in the same sector.
Sofinnova IB I, which follows a series of 9 investments in the sector since 2009, is dedicated to renewable chemistry. It will be invested in startups along the value chain from the transformation of renewable raw materials, like agricultural waste or C02, to renewable end-products such as bio-plastics and other bio-sourced materials.
Based on the investment thesis that the growing market demand for innovative, renewable products leveraging non-fossil raw materials and novel technologies will produce better performing or cheaper, sustainable alternatives, the fund will seek to invest the fund as a founding and lead investor in startups and corporate spin-offs, in Europe and North America.
Sofinnova IB I will seek to invest in 8 to 10 companies during the next 3 to 4 years by leveraging a dedicated team, initially composed of Denis Lucquin, Managing Partner, Joško Bobanović, Partner, and Michael Krel, Principal.
FinSMEs
02/03/2017