Eyevensys, a France-based medical device company to inject genes in eyes, has raised an undisclosed amount from the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF) , the corporate venturing unit of the eponymous Germany-based drugs company.
Michel Pairet, Boehringer Ingelheim’s head of non-clinical research and development, has joined Eyevensys’ board.
Ivan Cohen-Tanugi, chairman of Eyevensys, said: “Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund’s equity investment brings us credibility, further raises our profile and gives us access to their wealth of experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D. This sends a strong signal to our target market.”
Eyevensys previously raised €1.6m ($2.1m) in its series A round in January 2012 from venture fund Innobio, which is managed by French state-owned CDC Entreprises; Inserm Transfert Initiative, a seed fund for academic spin-offs in France; and investment firm CapDecisif Management – all of which plan to participate in the B round.
BIVF is also an investor in the Inserm Transfert Initiative, a €33.5m fund backed by the French government as well as by private investors that is aiming to support the creation and development of 15 to 20 academic spin-offs over a five-year period.