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Ysios Capital raises €155m for third biotech fund

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Spanish biotechnology-dedicated venture capital firm Ysios Capital has raised €155m for its third fund, Ysios BioFund III, which has a final target of €200m.

The fund is larger than its predecessors, Ysios BioFund I, which raised €65m, and Ysios BioFund II Innvierte, which closed on €126m in October 2016, exceeding its €100m target.

Following the launch of this third vehicle, the firm appointed five new venture partners to strengthen its investment team in charge of the evaluation of potential investment opportunities.

The new venture partners are: Toni Ribas, expert in immuno-oncology; Pamela Klein, former vice-president of development at Genentech; Carlos Paya, expert in immunology and infectious diseases; Peter Andersen, former executive vice-president at Lundbeck; and David Lacey, former global head of discovery research at Amgen.

Founded in 2008, the firm manages €346m in assets through its three funds, with a team of 15 investment professionals based in San Sebastián and Barcelona.

Investors
Ysios BioFund III has built a large investor base, attracting Spanish and international institutional investors and family offices. Its LP base includes the European Investment Fund (EIF) through the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) with the support of the European Union under the Investment Plan for Europe.

The fund recorded a high re-up rate, raising large commitments from numerous previous investors. LPs from previous funds who are participating increased their commitments by 60% on average.

"We have had excellent support from our existing investor base, but also from new investors who are becoming interested in the biotech sector and have chosen us as their reference firm in the industry," said Julia Salaverria, partner at Ysios Capital. "They see an excellent opportunity in this new fund to invest in a sector that has become even more crucial in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic."

Investments
Ysios BioFund III provides financing to early- and mid-stage, highly innovative life sciences companies that develop disruptive therapeutic products and technologies to address medical needs.

The fund plans to build a portfolio of up to 15 companies, mainly based in Europe, with a special focus on Spain. Typical investments will be €5-10m up to a maximum of €20m, but the fund may also invest in up to three seed rounds committing smaller amounts.

The firm has several deals in advanced stages and expects to close some of them shortly. Karen Wagner, partner at Ysios, said: "For this third fund, we have a pipeline of very promising projects at advanced stage, both in Spain and in the rest of Europe, and we aim to close at least five operations this year."

People
Ysios Capital – Julia Salaverria, Karen Wagner, Cristina Garmendia, Joël Jean-Mairet (managing partners).

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