Forbion announces first close of its new BioEconomy Fund I: backing biotech-enabled companies aiming to impact the future of our planet

• Forbion, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, announces the first close of its new fund strategy, Forbion BioEconomy Fund I at €75 million.
• Forbion BioEconomy Fund I leverages Forbion’s extensive biotech expertise in human health to also address planetary health challenges, funding companies that create or replace sustainable products across four sectors: Food, Agriculture, Materials and Environmental Technologies.
• Alex Hoffmann, General Partner, and Joy Faucher, Partner, who joined Forbion last year, will lead this new strategy with support from industry veterans as venture partners and senior advisors.

Amsterdam, 20 June 2024 – Forbion, a leading life sciences venture capital firm, announces the first close of its latest fund, Forbion BioEconomy Fund I (“Forbion BioEconomy"), at €75 million. This fund aims to invest in innovative companies leveraging biotechnologies to create sustainable solutions across four sectors: Food, Agriculture, Materials, and Environmental Technologies.

Forbion BioEconomy represents a strategic expansion of Forbion's investment scope, leveraging its extensive biotech expertise in the life sciences sector to address some of our planet's most pressing challenges relating to the environment, the growing need for a sustainable supply of food and the rapid depletion of natural resources. With its investments, the fund will back companies that aim to replace unsustainable products with biotechnology, to transform critical and polluting industries that rely on non-renewable resources. In addition to the potential positive impact of these companies, the market for biotech-enabled alternatives represents a significant commercial opportunity, which is estimated at over $2 trillion in the next decade*.

Forbion BioEconomy will target companies that have demonstrated proof of concept, typically at Series A and B stages. The fund focuses on scalable, cost-effective, business-to-business solutions that replace incumbent products at price parity or better. Forbion BioEconomy has already worked up a robust pipeline of opportunities and will actively support these companies to accelerate product development, helping them reach scale and realize their potential for impact.

The fund will be led by Alex Hoffmann and Joy Faucher, who have a track record of investing in leading European bioeconomy companies. They will be supported by members of the Forbion partnership and a world-class network of industry veterans including Feike Sijbesma, ex-CEO of DSM, Cees de Jong, Chairman of Novonesis, Onno van de Stolpe, ex-CEO of Galapagos and Stefan Oschmann, ex-CEO of Merck KGaA as advisors and Venture Partners.

Forbion BioEconomy aims to raise €150 million by the end of this year and build a portfolio of 10-12 investments in Europe and North America. The first close included the support of institutional investors including KfW Capital, Novo Holdings, and Rentenbank.

Sander Slootweg, Managing Partner and co-founder of Forbion said, “The launch of BioEconomy Fund I is further evidence of Forbion’s commitment to creating positive impact. It leverages our existing capabilities in supporting innovative biotechs to back a new generation of companies with growth capital so they can translate their innovation into valuable and commercial products and services to address urgent sustainability challenges.”

"We are excited to launch Forbion BioEconomy Fund I, filling a funding gap for innovative biotech companies to accelerate their scale-up and growth," said Alex Hoffmann, General Partner at Forbion. "By focusing on Food, Agriculture, Materials and Environmental Technologies, we aim to drive innovations and sustainable practices within $20 trillion value chains that will help clean and feed the planet."

“We are at the dawn of a significant bio-enabled revolution, driven by a wealth of talent, innovation and purpose, a combination that is catalytic to urgently safeguarding the future of our planet,” said Joy Faucher, Partner at Forbion. “We look forward to working with transformational companies reaching many industries and parts of society, to bring them to a scale that is meaningful and disruptive to the status quo.”

All Forbion BioEconomy portfolio companies will align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production), and SDG 13 (climate action).

This expansion of Forbion’s strategy sits alongside Forbion’s core and continuing focus, as a leading biotech venture capital firm that sources, builds and guides life sciences companies to impact the future of medicine and deliver meaningful returns for investors.