Germany-based pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim today provided another €150m for its corporate venturing vehicle, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), taking its total size to €250m ($300m).
BIVF was founded in 2010, and committed $130m to invest in US-based startups when it opened its first office in the country in Cambridge, Massachusetts three years later. The latest funding injection comes as it prepares to launch a second office on the west coast of the US.
Portfolio companies initially receive between €500,000 and €3m from BIVF as an initial seed or series A investment, with the fund eventually looking to build its commitment to somewhere €10m to €15m.
The unit currently has 21 companies in its portfolio including immunotherapy developer Hookipa, which closed a $59.6m series C round last month, and immuno-oncology drug developer ImCheck Therapeutics, which raised $21.8m in a BIVF-led round seven months earlier.
BIVF’s exits include RNA therapeutics developer Rigontec, which was acquired by Merck & Co for $554m in September 2017, and respiratory syncytial virus vaccine developer Okairos, which GlaxoSmithKline bought for $325m in 2013.
Frank Kalkbrenner, head of BIVF, said: “The key differentiator for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Venture Fund lies in the close and trusted relationships with the portfolios and entrepreneurs with whom we are privileged to work with.
“Through these connections, we’ve successfully developed a number of biotech startups – from creation to exit – and we look forward to the ground-breaking work that lies ahead. We are a team that welcomes new adventure and risk-taking, if it means delivering novel solutions that will one day help patients everywhere lead healthier lives.”