Germany-headquartered venture capital firm TVM Capital Life Science closed its latest vehicle, TVM Life Science Innovation II, at $478m on Tuesday, with pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly among the limited partners.
The list of backers included undisclosed strategic investors in addition to US-based banks, fund-of-funds, endowments, foundations, pension funds, wealth managers and family offices.
TVM Capital Life Science makes early and late-stage investments in companies developing medical products, diagnostic technology and biopharmaceuticals, in the European Union and North America.
The latest fund will allocate between 50% and 60% of its cash to what TVM Capital refers to as project-focused companies (PFCs) that it will hold a majority stake in, and is focusing its investments on assets expected to provide a clear route to an early exit.
Stefan Fischer, managing partner for finance at TVM Capital Life Science, said: “The success of this fundraising effort is a strong validation of the innovative, capital-efficient investment strategy that we have implemented in 2012 together with Eli Lilly and Company.
Hubert Birner, managing partner at the firm, added: “TVM LSI II intends to make investments in about 16 early-stage single asset PFCs and 10 late-stage companies with a focus on North America and Europe.”
Eli Lilly has also contributed to the TVM Life Science Ventures VII fund closed at over $200m by the firm in 2014, having provided $143m for TVM Life Science Innovation I two years earlier.
