The biotechnology-focused venture capital firm Kurma Partners has successfully closed a new €215 million (approximately $252 million) fund aimed at investing in up to 20 emerging life sciences companies. This marks Kurma’s fourth and largest fund to date, surpassing the €160 million (about $186 million) raised by its previous fund. However, the total amount for the latest fund falls short of the €250 million (approximately $292 million) target initially set during the fund’s announcement in 2024.
Based in Paris, Kurma Partners revealed that the new fund is designed to support investments in companies that are focused on the discovery and development of “revolutionary therapeutic solutions for severe or incurable diseases.” According to the firm’s website, approximately 80% of Biofund IV’s capital will be invested in portfolio companies that are developing new therapies. Up to half of the fund’s investments are expected to go to companies founded by the management team or to ArgoBio Studio, a startup incubator co-founded by Kurma and Bpifrance.
Founded in 2009, Kurma has seen successful exits from its third fund, which facilitated the 2021 acquisition of Corlieve Therapeutics by uniQure, Eli Lilly’s acquisition of Emergence Therapeutics in 2023, and AstraZeneca’s purchase of Amolyt Pharma in 2024.
In 2021, Eurazeo acquired a majority stake in Kurma. Last year, this investment firm acquired the remaining shares of Kurma. In its most recent financial report, Eurazeo disclosed assets under management amounting to €39 billion (approximately $45.6 billion).
Eurazeo is one of the investors contributing to the new Kurma fund. Kurma noted that the three principal investors in this fund include Australian biotechnology firm CSL Limited, the European Investment Fund, and Bpifrance. Additional contributors include various European institutional investors and family offices.
Kurma’s current portfolio comprises nearly 60 companies operating in fields such as autoimmune diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory conditions. The new fund has already made investments in 11 companies, most of which are based in Europe. Notably, earlier this year, Kurma participated in the Series A funding of Alveus Therapeutics, a weight-loss drug developer with operations in both Philadelphia and Copenhagen.
With the closure of this new fund, Kurma has reported that its total assets under management are now at €1 billion (approximately $1.1 billion). During the announcement of the fund’s closure, Kurma’s managing partners, Thierry Laugel and Rémi Droller, expressed that this latest closure reflects the investor confidence in the firm’s investment model.
“With Biofund IV and Argobio Studio, we now possess a unique capability in Europe to identify world-class academic sciences, transform them into globally competitive biotechnology companies, and guide them to full maturity,” they stated.
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