Kurma Partners, a Paris-based European healthcare venture capital firm and Eurazeo group company, has announced the final closing of Biofund IV at €215 million, bringing total assets under management across all Kurma Partners franchises to €1 billion. The fund is backed by cornerstone investors CSL, the European Investment Fund, and Bpifrance, alongside other European institutional investors and family offices. Parent company Eurazeo is also an investor in the fund.
The closing represents a nearly 35% increase in size over its predecessor, Biofund III, which raised €160 million, reflecting strong support from both corporate and financial investors for Kurma’s model of bridging European academic research, industry, and venture capital. Biofund IV has already completed 11 investments and plans to make approximately 20 in total, targeting startups as well as the creation of new biotech companies from scratch.
Kurma’s strategy centers on a network built over 15 years with Europe’s leading academic researchers, combined with the expertise of biotechnology professionals with proven track records. The firm also collaborates closely with Argobio Studio, a dedicated biotech startup launchpad co-founded with Bpifrance and supported by strategic investors Angelini Ventures, Evotec, and Institut Pasteur. As a venture builder, Argobio has invested in eight companies to date, three of which have already completed their initial funding rounds: Elkedonia, Laigo Bio, and Enodia Therapeutics.
The strength of the model is evidenced by Biofund III’s track record, which has delivered three exits to leading pharmaceutical groups: Amolyt Pharma, focused on rare endocrine diseases, sold to AstraZeneca; Emergence Therapeutics, a developer of cancer-targeting Antibody-Drug Conjugates, sold to Eli Lilly; and Corlieve Therapeutics, focused on rare epilepsies, sold to uniQure. More recently, ImCheck, a portfolio company of both Biofund II and Kurma Growth specializing in next-generation immunotherapy antibodies for cancer treatment, was acquired by Ipsen.
Biofund IV’s 11 completed investments span multiple countries and therapeutic areas, including SciRhom in Germany for autoimmune diseases, Memo Therapeutics in Switzerland for natural immunity, Avidicure in the Netherlands for cancer immunotherapy, Elkedonia in France and Belgium for resistant depression, Nuevocor across Singapore, France, and the United States for genetic heart diseases, Evla Bio in Switzerland and Germany for cardiorenal diseases, Adcytherix in France developing antibodies targeting solid tumors, Evidence Bio in France for respiratory diseases, Laigo Bio in the Netherlands and the UK for oncology and autoimmune diseases, Alveus across the United States and Denmark for respiratory diseases, and Givax across the United States and Europe developing next-generation cancer vaccines.
Kurma Partners was founded in Paris in 2009 and operates with a team of 25 professionals, including 10 partners, across offices in Paris and Munich. The firm covers the full healthcare spectrum through dedicated franchises spanning early-stage biotechnology, digital health and diagnostics, and growth capital.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our partnership with Kurma Partners has enabled us to further build relationships across Europe, a region brimming with scientific innovation. By investing in a team with a proven track record of identifying and translating high quality European science, we are pleased to support the European biotech ecosystem and the progression of promising research toward therapies for patients with unmet medical needs.”
Dr. Steven Pitt, Global Head of External Innovation, CSL
“We are thrilled to be renewing our cooperation with Kurma Partners as we pursue our common goal of supporting breakthrough innovation in Europe’s leading biotechnology sector. Apart from improving people’s lives, this has an important impact in strengthening European competitiveness, resilience and strategic autonomy. Through the EIB Group’s TechEU initiative, the EIF ultimately seeks to ensure that Europe’s brightest entrepreneurs get the support they need throughout the business lifecycle, and this transaction does exactly that.”
Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive, European Investment Fund
“This latest closing reflects our investors’ long-standing trust in the model we have built over the past fifteen years: an integrated ecosystem that bridges the gap between scientific discovery and venture capital financing. With Biofund IV and Argobio Studio, we now possess a unique capacity in Europe to identify world-class academic science, transform it into globally competitive biotechnology companies, and support them through to full maturity. It is this depth of commitment that sets us apart for researchers, entrepreneurs, and, ultimately, for patients.”
Thierry Laugel and Rémi Droller, Managing Partners, Kurma Partners
