France-based venture capital firm Truffle Capital has closed a €250m ($278m) fund that featured medical imaging technology producer Guerbet, reinsurer Caisse Centrale de Réassurances and digital services provider Sopra Steria as limited partners.
French investors provided 60% of the capital and also included cosmetics producer L’Occitane Group’s startup studio, Obratori, as well as financial services group BPCE and pension funds ProBTP and Agrica. Undisclosed family offices also contributed to the close.
Truffle Capital invests in life sciences technology developers, but the BioMedTech fund will support the creation of approximately 12 companies to develop medical devices and therapeutics sourced from research at some 50 partner universities across Europe and the US.
New companies launched by the vehicle include PKMed, which is working on a slow-release drug delivery device, and HoliStick Medical, the developer of a catheter-based system designed to repair heart tissue.
Philippe Pouletty, Truffle Capital’s CEO, said: “Our investment strategy is designed to allow clinicians to treat patients more effectively and in a less traumatic way with revolutionary products, allowing patients to enjoy better and longer lives, and payers to reduce health costs.”
