Austria-based IST Cube closed its seed-stage investment fund at €40m ($48m) today with backing from limited partners including insurance group Vienna Insurance.
The fund’s LPs also include the European Union-owned European Investment Fund, federal development agency Austria Wirtschaftsservice, investment firm Mitterbauer-Beteiligungs-AG, the state of Lower Austria and about 20 private investors. The capital was raised in late 2020 but was undisclosed until now.
IST Cube was launched by Institute of Science and Technology Austria and investment management firm Lansdowne Partners with an initial $6.5m in 2017 to help commercialise and invest in spinouts from Austrian universities. It has backed eight companies to date in sectors including medicine, biotechnology and IT.
The vehicle is led by founder and managing partner Markus Wanko, who revealed at a press conference this morning that the fund had an original target of €30m and remained open up to a hard cap of €45m.
Wanko is an upcoming guest on Global University Venturing’s podcast Talking Tech Transfer.
