Consortium invests CHF 12.5m in Alentis
BioMedPartners and BB Pureos Bioventures have co-led a CHF 12.5m series-A for biotechnology company Alentis Therapeutics.
BPI France, Schroder Adveq and High-Tech Gründerfonds also participated in the funding round.
Switzerland-based BioMedPartners is currently investing from its BioMedInvest III vehicle that closed on CHF 100m in March 2018. The fund will invest in 12-16 drug development companies. BB Pureos Bioventures is a venture fund advised by Bellevue. The fund was launched in 2017 and focuses on emerging healthcare companies.
Markus Ewert, who was previously chief business officer at Ablynx and assisted with its IPO, has joined the company as CEO. Following the funding round, Alentis's board of directors comprises Alentis co-founder and chairman Neil Goldsmith, BioMedPartners general partner Andreas Wallnöfer, BB Pureos Bioventures managing partner Martin Münchbach, BPI France senior investment manager Benoit Barteau and Alentis founder Thomas Baumert.
Alentis will continue to develop drugs with research from the University of Strasbourg and the University of Texas Southwestern.
Alentis is a BaseLaunch portfolio company, a healthcare accelerator operated by BaselArea.swiss. BaseLaunch has provided early-stage financial and operational support to the company.
Satt Conectus has also assisted in the foundation of Alentis. The Alsace-based investment fund offers up to €500,000 per project.
Company
Alentis discovers and develops medications to treat advanced liver diseases such as liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. Established in March 2019, the company is headquartered in Basel with a subsidiary in Strasbourg and a branch in Germany.
People
BioMedPartners – Andreas Wallnöfer (general partner).
BB Pureos Bioventures – Martin Münchbach (managing partner).
BPI France – Benoit Barteau (senior investment manager).
Alentis Therapeutics – Thomas Baumert (founder); Neil Goldsmith (co-founder, chairman); Markus Ewert (CEO).
More on Early-stage
Sidekick spinoffs: Insurtech scale-ups attract PE interest
Investment set to break EUR 1.1bn mark this year as sponsors seek for rising stars
World Fund leads EUR 128m raise for quantum computing group IQM
Series-A2 for Finnish startup focused on combating the climate crisis also backed by the EIB
Gorillas raises circa USD 1bn in Delivery Hero-led Series C
New funding comes just seven months after a Series B, with the company doubling in value
French mega-rounds shoot up in 2021
France has already seen as many rounds of EUR 100m and above than in 2019 and 2020 combined, Unquote Data shows
Latest News
Stonehage Fleming raises USD 130m for largest fund to date, eyes 2024 programme
Multi-family office has seen strong appetite, with investor base growing since 2016 to more than 90 family offices, Meiping Yap told Unquote
Permira to take Ergomed private for GBP 703m
Sponsor deploys Permira VIII to ride new wave of take-privates; Blackstone commits GBP 200m in financing for UK-based CRO
Partners Group to release IMs for Civica sale in mid-September
Sponsor acquired the public software group in July 2017 via the same-year vintage Partners Group Global Value 2017
Change of mind: Sponsors take to de-listing their own assets
EQT and Cinven seen as bellweather for funds to reassess options for listed assets trading underwater