Biotech startup ecosystem
Europe's biotech ecosystem benefits from world-class research universities, strong IP frameworks, and growing specialist VC funds. The UK, Switzerland, and the Nordics are particularly strong in drug discovery, diagnostics, and synthetic biology. We track 103 organisations in this sector across 6+ countries.
Showing 41–60 of 103 Biotech
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Biotech results
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Forbion
Forbion is a leading European life sciences venture capital firm headquartered in Naarden, Netherlands, managing approximately €5 billion across multiple fund strategies covering all stages of biopharmaceutical drug development. The firm has a team of over 30 investment professionals and a track record of more than 130 investments across 11 funds, resulting in numerous approved therapies and successful public exits. Its newest funds—Forbion Growth Opportunities III (€1.2 billion) and Forbion Ventures VII (€890 million)—represent its largest capital raise to date.
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Fountain Healthcare Partners
Fountain Healthcare Partners is Ireland's largest dedicated life-sciences venture firm, founded in 2008 as a spin-out from Elan Corporation's investment group. Headquartered in Dublin with an office in New York, it was established by Manus Rogan, Aidan King, Ena Prosser and Justin Lynch, and manages more than €425M across four funds. The firm invests at seed and early stage across specialty pharma, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics — primarily in Europe with selective US positions — typically leading or co-leading syndicates with €0.5–7M initial cheques and active follow-on. Fund III closed at €125M in 2020 with anchor commitments from the European Investment Fund, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, AIB and Japan's Kyowa Kirin, and Fund IV is now active. The portfolio has produced landmark exits including Inflazome (acquired by Roche for €380M upfront, 2020), KaNDy Therapeutics (Bayer, $425M upfront, 2020), Syndesi Therapeutics (AbbVie, 2022), Calypso Biotech (Novartis, 2024) and Vivasure Medical (Haemonetics, 2026). Active holdings include the Irish medtechs Neuromod Devices and Neurent Medical, Germany's Exciva and Belgium's Dualyx.
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Genesis 2026
The 26th edition of One Nucleus's flagship London life-science networking conference, themed around maximising returns from life-science innovation. For a biotech or life-science founder it is a focused day of partnering and investor networking within the UK life-sciences cluster.
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Granatus Ventures
Founded in 2013 by Manuk Hergnyan, Pierre Hennes, and Yervand Sarkisyan, Granatus Ventures is a Yerevan-headquartered deep-tech VC with ~$40M AUM and offices also in London and Singapore. The firm focuses on university spinouts across AI, biotech, advanced computing, robotics, industrial automation, and climate tech, sourcing deals from Oxford, Cambridge, and Berkeley. Notable portfolio companies include BlueQubit (quantum software), Gecko Robotics (industrial inspection unicorn), and Zoundream (infant cry analysis). As of 2025 the fund remains actively deploying capital across its global deep-tech mandate.
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Hanson Wade
Organizer of specialized life-science summits including the mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit Europe series. Hanson Wade has been producing senior-level scientific conferences since 2008, convening researchers, pharma executives, and biotech founders for deep technical discussions on drug discovery, gene therapy, and emerging therapeutic platforms.
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Hard2beat VC
Hard2beat is a Wrocław-based pre-seed and seed venture fund founded in 2024 by Maciej Zawadziński — a serial entrepreneur with three exits including Piwik PRO (sold to Kirk Kapital in 2023) — alongside Maciej Frankowicz and Konrad Trzyna, who previously ran Shape VC's BRIdge Alpha programme. The fund closed at 84M PLN (~€20M), with PFR Ventures providing 56.5M PLN under the FENG programme and 30 private investors contributing the rest. Hard2beat backs Polish deep-tech founders from pre-revenue to early revenue with 1–3M PLN initial cheques and follow-on up to 8M PLN, targeting teams with a genuine technical moat in cybersecurity, medtech, biotech, devtools, dual-use/defence, gamedev, robotics and spacetech — explicitly avoiding B2C and shallow AI. By mid-2026 it had made seven investments including the open-source cybersecurity platform Defguard, autonomous UAV startup DefendEye, Alzheimer's wearable developer Neuromedical, neuroprotection biotech Pikralida, Unreal Engine AI copilot Ludus AI, and devtools company Graftcode (€2.1M, led with DigitalOcean Ventures, 2026).
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Health Revolution Congress 2026
Billed as Southern Europe's largest digital health congress, drawing 3,000+ attendees and around 450 companies to the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau. For healthtech founders it is a concentrated dealmaking venue with keynote stages, a startup exhibition, and direct access to hospitals, pharma, and investors active in digital health.
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Hemab Therapeutics
Hemab is a clinical-stage biotech company developing prophylactic therapies for severe bleeding and thrombotic disorders. Founded by biotech operators with Novo Nordisk roots, the company engineers antibody-based treatments aimed at preventing episodes before they occur in underserved rare-disease populations.
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Horizon Europe Info Day - Cluster 1 Health 2026
Information day on funding opportunities for health-related projects under the Horizon Europe framework programme, specifically for Cluster 1 (Health). Provides guidance for applicants and consortia.
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in-cosmetics Global 2026
Flagship global personal care ingredients trade fair at Paris Porte de Versailles with 10,000+ formulators and brand buyers and 700+ exhibitors. Free with pre-registration or about EUR 100 on-site. Ideal for biotech, green chemistry, and sustainable cosmetics startups seeking ingredient adoption and multinational brand partnerships.
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in-cosmetics Global 2027
in-cosmetics Global 2027 moves to Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, running 6-8 April, having previously been held in Paris. The trade show covers cosmetic ingredients and formulation, including GLP-1 inspired formulation strategies and active ingredient development. It is the leading global event for personal care ingredient suppliers and formulators.
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Innovafeed
Produces sustainable insect-based ingredients from the Black Soldier Fly for aquaculture, pet food and plant nutrition. Founded in 2016, it has produced over 15,000 tonnes of protein and oil and secured €51M to scale commercial growth.
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Inspirefest 2026
Ireland's international sci-tech festival organized by Silicon Republic, known for its strong focus on diversity and inclusion in tech. Attracts 3,000+ attendees with programming across AI, biotech, space, and social innovation. Features a fringe festival with arts and culture alongside the main conference.
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Inveready
Founded in 2008, Inveready is a Barcelona-based multi-strategy investment group managing over EUR 200M across ten fund vehicles spanning venture capital, venture debt, and corporate finance. The firm invests at seed through growth in software, biotech, and fintech, with typical early-stage tickets of EUR 0.5-3M. Notable portfolio companies include Kantox (acquired by BNP Paribas), Vlex, and Aelix Therapeutics. Inveready is one of Spain's most prolific investors with 100+ portfolio companies.
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Jean-Philippe Vert
Co-founder and Chief R&D Officer of Bioptimus, building foundation models for biology. A leading machine-learning researcher, he was previously a research lead at Google Brain and Owkin and a professor at Mines ParisTech.
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Jurgi Camblong
Co-founder and CEO of SOPHiA GENETICS, the Lausanne-based clinical AI company he co-founded in 2011 as an EPFL spin-out. Camblong led SOPHiA GENETICS for over a decade from a university genomics project to a Nasdaq IPO in July 2021, raising $228M and building a federated clinical AI network used by over 780 healthcare institutions in 70 countries for genomic analysis in oncology and rare disease diagnostics.
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Kerecis
Kerecis is an Icelandic biotech and medical technology company known for developing wound-healing products derived from fish skin. Its work is notable because it turns a locally abundant natural material into a clinically relevant regenerative scaffold used in difficult wound-care cases, including burns, trauma, and chronic ulcers. The biological rationale and manufacturing approach set it apart from software-led health companies: this is a deep life-science and materials business built around research, regulatory rigor, and medical adoption. In the European ecosystem, Kerecis is a useful example of how world-class biotech can emerge from a small geography when the product is grounded in differentiated science and clear clinical utility. It expands the directory's health coverage into advanced materials and tissue regeneration, complementing digital health and wearable platforms without overlapping with them. For the broader startup map, Kerecis shows that high-impact European innovation is not limited to apps or infrastructure, but also includes biologically sophisticated products with global medical significance.
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life - The Biomedical Convention 2026
One-day life sciences convention in Heidelberg featuring biotech keynotes, startup pitch competitions, and investor panels. Organized by BioRN, the Rhine-Neckar biotech cluster, and attended by pharma executives, academic researchers, and VCs. Strong entry point for early-stage biotech and medtech founders seeking funding and strategic partnerships.
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life - The Biomedical Convention 2027
life - The Biomedical Convention 2027 takes place 3 February at the Heidelberg Congress Center, organised by the bioRN life science cluster. The one-day convention is part of the annual bioRN conference programme, bringing together the Heidelberg biomedical and life sciences community for exhibitions and networking.
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Lionel Mora
Co-founder and CEO of Neoplants, bio-engineering houseplants to capture indoor air pollutants. A former Google strategist, he co-founded the deep-tech startup with biologist Patrick Torbey.
