European venture capital firm Sofinnova has launched Biovelocita, an investment strategy dedicated to the creation and acceleration of biotech startups in Europe.
The firm said it had a created a new team for Biovelocita and the new venture was inspired by Italy’s first biotech accelerator, BiovelocITA, co-founded by Gabriella Camboni, Silvano Spinelli and Sofinnova Partners in 2015.
“With Sofinnova Biovelocita, we are doubling down on our commitment to innovation and company creation in the life sciences,” said Graziano Seghezzi, managing partner of Sofinnova Partners. “To improve and expand our company-creation toolbox, we have brought together a group of experienced investors and entrepreneurs who have been collaborating with Sofinnova for over a decade – some for nearly two decades.”
He added: “With this top-tier team, we look forward to strengthening one of Sofinnova’s strategic pillars – acceleration, which is already making rapid strides in the medical device space with Sofinnova MD Start, our in-house medtech accelerator.”
The partners involved in the new strategy will be Camboni, Matthieu Coutet, Alex Leech, and Zhizong (Joel) Yao. Yao and Camboni have previously been aligned with other Sofinnova projects.
‘Transformative innovation’
“We know from our extensive experience that close co-operation between top management teams, world-class scientists, and dedicated financing, forges the path for biotech champions of tomorrow,” said Seghezzi. “With this new strategy, we are poised to catalyse transformative innovation in biotechnology.”
Biovelocita was not the only announcement from Sofinnova this week. A day after that was launched, the firm announced it would be forging a “strategic alliance” with the cancer centre Gustave Roussy to boost oncology startup acceleration in France. This partnership will be part of the firm’s Biovelocita investment strategy.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners now boasts 50 years of experience backing more than 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. The firm has more than €2.5bn under management and offices in London, Milan and Paris.
