Kurma Partners closes €215M Biofund IV, crosses €1B in assets under management
What’s the deal? Kurma PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Paris-based biotech investor and member of the EurazeoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → group, has closed Biofund IV at €215M — its largest fund to date and a 35% increase over the €160M raised for Biofund III. The close brings Kurma’s total assets under management to €1B, up from a €51M debut fund in 2009.
Key backers include CSLDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (the Australian pharmaceutical group), the European Investment Fund, and Bpifrance (investing directly and through France’s Biotech Health Acceleration Fund under the France 2030 initiative). The fund closed below its €250M target but still attracted more interest than the previous vintage.
Why now? European biotech is experiencing a wave of exits that is validating the venture model. Kurma’s prior fund, Biofund III, delivered three acquisitions by major pharma: Amolyt Pharma to AstraZenecaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Emergence Therapeutics to Eli LillyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Corlieve TherapeuticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to UniQure. More recently, ImCheck Therapeutics was acquired by IpsenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → for €350M upfront with milestone payments up to €1B.
Founded by Thierry LaugelDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Rémi DrollerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Kurma’s model is distinctive: it both invests in existing startups and co-creates companies from academic research, working through its Argobio StudioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → venture builder (a joint initiative with Bpifrance, Angelini VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Evotec, and the Institut PasteurDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →).
What could go wrong? The fund closed 14% below its €250M target — a sign that European biotech fundraising, while improving, still faces headwinds. The LP base leans heavily on institutional and public backers (EIF, Bpifrance, CSL) rather than the deep pool of private capital available to US peers.
European biotech VC also faces structural challenges: longer timelines to exit, smaller average deal sizes, and a less developed IPO market compared to the US. Kurma’s exits have been strong, but they are the exception rather than the rule for the continent.
The signal: Kurma reaching €1B in AUM is a milestone for European biotech venture capital. The firm sits alongside Sofinnova Partners, ForbionDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Versant Ventures Europe as one of the continent’s largest life sciences investors. Unlike its rivals, Kurma’s venture-building model — spinning out companies directly from academic labs — gives it a differentiated deal pipeline that pure fund investors cannot easily replicate.
Biofund IV has already made 11 investments across seven European countries and plans roughly 20 in total. The pan-European spread signals that the best biotech science is no longer concentrated in a single hub.
Sources:
Eurazeo
Fierce Biotech
Tech Funding News
Finyear
Pharmaceutiques
Image credit:
Kurma Partners
J.V.
