Anja König has led Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), the corporate venturing arm of the Switzerland- based pharmaceutical giant Novartis, for the past seven years. During her leadership, she has focused the fund on therapeutics investments and built a diverse global team.
The fund has seen 78 new investments and more than 40 exits across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
NVF invests in startups that are advancing innovative therapeutics and platforms, addressing unmet medical needs and which explore novel proprietary scientific developments. It also looks at startups that can increase the capital efficiency of the pharmaceuticals sector.
The unit’s latest investments include leading the £48m series A round for AstronauTx, a UK-based biotech company developing treatments for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The unit also led a $56m round, combining seed equity funding and debt, for Hyku, a developer of small molecule therapeutics aimed at potentially inactive proteins that drive disease progression. NVF also participated in the $66m series B round raised by peanut allergy vaccine developer Aravax.
Prior to joining NVF, König served as associate partner in the US management consultancy fi rm McKinsey. During her time there, she collaborated with healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotech companies across Europe and North America.
During her leadership, König has focused the fund on therapeutics investments and built a diverse
global team.
König dedicated her academic career to the fi eld of physics, having pursued her master’s degree at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. She completed her doctoral studies at Cornell University. She serves as a trustee on the board of the Swiss National Science Foundation and holds an independent director position on the board of Sensirion, a Swiss company developing sensors used in manufacturing.
In June 2017, she was included in GCV’s Rising Stars list.
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These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.