BioInnovation Institute partners with eight international VCs

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BioInnovation Institute (BII), a Novo Nordisk Foundation initiative incubating and accelerating world-class life science research, today announces that it has established a senior independent Program Advisory Group of well renowned, top-tier investors including SR One, Sofinnova Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Novo Holdings, Wellington Partners, March Fund, Rock Health and BioVentures Investors, all with a successful track record of launching and supporting early-stage companies.

As one of the leading incubators available for life science start-ups in Europe, BII helps life science entrepreneurs commercialize their projects. Operating different business acceleration programs, it provides early-stage life science ventures from around the world with knowledge, network, funding, and infrastructure required for start-up success. BII has a broad scope through the sector specialised areas - Therapeutics, BioIndustrial and HealthTech - and has established three Program Advisory Groups with a focus on each of these areas.

The sector-specific Program Advisory Groups will provide expert guidance in selecting applicants with investment potential and cover the screening of all open calls and grants allocated outside open competition. As leading VCs, they bring not only international breadth but also expertise and depth in their sub-sectors.

Bobby Soni, Chief Business Officer of BII, commented: "We have brought together a truly stellar group of international investors and sector experts, who will collectively provide a wealth of independent and industry-specific guidance to both BII and our participants, as we identify and develop the next generation of commercially-viable healthcare solutions.

"The calibre of the members speaks to the recent successes of our portfolio companies and reflects their support for our strategy and interest in our deal flow. Each member shares a passion for helping build BII's platform and we are looking forward to working with and learning from them. We are very grateful for their time and ongoing commitment to our mission of catalyzing commercialization of research-based innovation for the benefit of human welfare and society around the world."

Joining the BII Health Tech Program Advisory Group, Bill Evans, CEO & Managing Director at Rock Health added: "It's exciting to be a part of the team of investors that BII has assembled. Innovation in health and life sciences is now, and always has been, a team sport. It's a real honor for Rock Health to play a role in the work BII is leading."

"On behalf of the venture capital investor community, I strongly endorse BII's initiatives to identify and curate top-notch science to a point where biotech start-ups can be built around it, and to attract and nurture management talent to Copenhagen. I believe that many of the companies incubated at BII will develop drugs that have a measurable impact on patients, generating economic value and employment that will shine a spotlight on the Scandinavian biotech ecosystem," added Bibhash Mukhopadhyay, Principal at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), joining the BII Therapeutics Program Advisory Group.

"BII has created an exciting and vibrant incubator, to promote the commercialisation of innovation in life science. It is encouraging to see that BII has included industrial biotechnology as one of the focus areas and created an environment where start-ups can identify the right problems to solve and grow. The mentoring and support by industry experts, as well as investors, will give entrepreneurs an unmatched start on their journey toward fundraising and commercialisation," says Thomas Grotkjær, Principal at Novo Seeds, joining the BII BioIndustrial Program Advisory Group.

Since inception in 2018, BII has supported over 74 start-ups and projects to date, with EUR 45 million in funding. Its diverse team brings venture capital, pharma and business expertise together to help start-ups accelerate to the next level. Recent portfolio / incubated company successes include immune-oncology company STipe Therapeutics, that raised EUR 20 million in a Series A financing; Chromologics, that received EUR 1.9 million in seed financing; and synthetic biology company Octarine, that completed a successful raise in January of this year. Just this week, BII announced +100 million DKK in funding new ventures, demonstrating the growing need to bring new technologies and innovations to market.

Read more at www.bioinnovationinstitute.com

The members of BII's Program Advisory Group are:

Therapeutics Program Advisory Group

• SR One, represented by Biotech Venture Capital Investor Amit Shah
• Sofinnova Partners, represented by Managing Partner Henrijette Richter
• New Enterprise Associates, represented by Principal Bibhash Mukhopadhyay
• Novo Holdings, represented by Partner Emmanuelle Coutanceau

BioIndustrial Program Advisory Group

• Novo Holdings, represented by Principal Thomas Grotkjær
• Sofinnova Partners, represented by Partner Michael Krel
• Wellington Partners, represented by Senior Associate Arturo Urrios
• March Fund, represented by Founding Partner Harold Schmitz

HealthTech Program Advisory Group

• Sofinnova Partners, represented by Investment Partner Anne Osdoit
• Rock Health, represented by CEO & Managing Director Bill Evans
• BioVentures Investors, represented by Managing Director Jonathan P. Gertler
• Novo Holdings, represented by Senior Partner Robert Ghenchev

About BioInnovation Institute

BioInnovation Institute is an incubator supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation to accelerate world-class life science innovation that drives development of new solutions by early life science start-ups for the benefit of people and society. BII, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, offers start-ups and early-stage projects within health tech, therapeutics and bio-industrials 2300 square-meters of state-of-the art labs, vibrant office facilities, business development, start-up business incubation, access to high-level mentoring and international networks plus unique funding opportunities of up to EUR 1.3 million per start-up and EUR 2.4 million per project. BII also regularly hosts highly recognized international speakers within life sciences as part of the 'Talks at the Square' event series. Since the inauguration of BII in November 2018, BII has awarded 45 million euro to innovative entrepreneurs. Read more at www.bioinnovationinstitute.com / www.bii.dk 

SOURCE BII