Founded 2008. Specialist VC investing in biotech, pharma, and medical devices with a transatlantic presence.
Dublin, Ireland
Accelerator
Series A to Series B
/ireland/accelerator/fountain-healthcare-partners
Azafaros is a clinical-stage biotech company developing oral therapies for rare genetic metabolic disorders, including lysosomal diseases. Its lead development strategy focuses on compounds designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and address severe neurological progression in underserved pediatric conditions.
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.
Medtech spin-out developing implantable neuromodulation devices to treat pelvic and nervous system disorders.
Bioptimus is the self-proclaimed "Mistral of Biology," spun out in early 2024 by a team of alumni from Google DeepMind and Owkin, including CEO Jean-Philippe Vert. The company is building what it calls the first universal foundation model for biology. Where large language models were trained on text to learn human language, Bioptimus trains on biological data—DNA sequences, protein structures, cellular imagery, and clinical phenotypes—to infer the underlying rules of life. The ambition is not just better predictions but a unified biological reasoning layer that can simulate outcomes before expensive lab work happens. By 2026, Bioptimus has moved from a research thesis to early commercial traction. After a $41M Series A in 2025, the company released its first commercial model that can predict how a specific molecule will interact with a human cell with unusually high accuracy. This enables in-silico screening that reduces wet-lab costs and improves hit rates for drug discovery. French pharma leaders such as Sanofi have begun using these models to prioritize compounds and compress early-stage discovery timelines. The product value is immediate: fewer failed experiments, faster candidate selection, and deeper mechanistic insight. Bioptimus' roadmap focuses on "multi-scale biology," connecting the micro level (genomics and proteomics) to the macro level (patient outcomes and clinical data). Rather than being limited to protein folding, the models aim to bridge across data modalities so a genetic mutation can be linked to disease pathways, tissue behavior, and potential therapeutic interventions. This requires data breadth and regulatory trust, and Bioptimus is building a defensive moat through European data sovereignty. It leverages partnerships with European research hospitals and biobanks to access high-quality patient data that is difficult for US competitors to acquire under GDPR constraints. That compliance burden becomes a competitive advantage: safer access, better provenance, and stronger alignment with European health data governance. The company remains deeply embedded in the Paris ecosystem. It was incubated inside Owkin before spinning out, maintains a presence around Station F, and benefits from the cross-pollination between French AI and biotech communities. Its investor base reflects that positioning: Sofinnova Partners, Bpifrance, Cathay Innovation, Xavier Niel, and Frst provide a blend of life-science expertise, sovereign capital, and deep-tech conviction. In 2026, Bioptimus is the clearest European bet that foundation models can unlock biology at scale—and a contender to become the default AI layer for drug discovery in Europe.
Generative protein design platform helping scientists engineer new vaccines, therapeutics, and materials.
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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