Eir Ventures holds first close on €76m for life sciences fund

The VC will invest in early-stage and mature opportunities that are developing new therapies, medical technology and digital health.

The firm is aiming to raise €125m in total and foresees holding a few interim closes prior to a final close before the end of 2020. 

Eir did not use a placement agent for the fundraise. Mannheimer Swartling acted as the legal adviser, while PwC provided tax and audit services. 

The VC firm, which has offices in Stockholm and Copenhagen, was set up by managing partners Dr Magnus Persson, Stephan Christgau, Andreas Segerros, and Amanda Hayward, who is special partner. The founding members have previously worked at partner level for life sciences firms in the Nordic region and the US. 

Persson told Unquote that fundraising took a year and a half – longer than he had expected. He cited Covid-19 and the fact that it was raising for its first fund as causes for the delay. "We've turned to four big investors for our fund and we feel that for a first-time fund we couldn't get a better set of investors. They're meticulous in their due diligence and so it has taken longer than usual."

Investors
Persson said the fund is backed by four big and four small LPs. This includes Saminvest as a cornerstone investor, the European Investment Fund, Vækstfonden, Novo Holdings and additional private investors. Six Nordic universities, which came together as one LP, have also invested in the vehicle. Persson said: "It's not a big ticket, but the gesture is great. They've been an important part of our message to LPs." 

Investments
According to Persson, the fund will be used to acquire minority stakes of 10-40% in 12-15 companies that promote products and technologies addressing unmet medical needs and that have the potential to improve lives of patients.

Two thirds of Eir Ventures I will be used to invest in Nordic companies, but it will also look at opportunities in Europe and the US. While a majority of the investments will be early-stage and expansion deals, around 5% of the vehicle will be used to make pre-seed investments in innovations from prominent universities in the Nordic region.

The firm is planning to start investing from the fund after summer and is expected to close a deal in Q3 this year. 

People
Eir Ventures – Magnus Persson, Stephan Cristgau, Andreas Segerros (managing partners).

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