Solvay, a publicly traded chemical group has made a €5m ($6.6m) commitment into the Green Seed Fund raised by France-based life sciences venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners. The fund recently closed at €22.5m.
The fund will be used to finance European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in industrial biotechnologies. Other partners in the Green Seed Fund are agri-industrial primary processing company Siclaé, Sofiproteol, a VC firm promoting the devlopment of oilseeds, Unigrains, a private equity and venture capital firm that specializes in mezzanine financings, and CDC Entreprises, a state-backed fund management company.
Last month Solvay launched an €300,000 chemistry prize ‘to reward a major scientific discovery that could shape tomorrow’s chemistry and help human progress’, with the first prize being given in November 2013.
Sofinnova recently closed its Sofinnova Capital VII for biopharmaceuticals, medical instrumentation and industrial biotechnologies, raising €240m.