Spain-based financial services firm La Caixa has launched a seed-stage venture capital fund called Caixa Innvierte Start that will be equipped with an initial €20m ($22m).
Caixa Innvierte Start will be overseen by La Caixa’s VC management firm, Caixa Capital Risc, but the initial capital could be topped up by external investments from the private or public sector.
The fund will target seed-stage companies working on disruptive scientific technologies that will need lengthy development before they get to market. Startups emerging from universities or research centres are expected to receive a substantial portion of the capital.
Caixa Innvierte Start will invest between $550,000 and $2.2m in each portfolio company, and is looking to partner investors that specialise in the sector.
The first company to receive cash through the initiative is Aelix, the Spain-based HIV immunotherapy developer that raised $12.7m in a January 2015 series A round featuring Caixa Capital Risc, healthcare group Johnson & Johnson and Ysios Capital.
Caixa Capital Risc currently has approximately $200m under management and a 175-strong portfolio spread across eight funds.