Spanish biotech VC firm Ysios Capital has held a first close of its third fund, Ysios BioFund III, at EUR155 million.
The fund has a final target size of EUR200 million. Ysios Capital is the largest venture capital firm in Spain specialised in biotechnology with EUR346 million under management through three funds; Ysios BioFund I, Ysios BioFund II Innvierte and Ysios BioFund III. The firm expects to close four new investments shortly.
“For this third fund, we have a pipeline of very promising projects at advanced stage, both in Spain and in the rest of Europe, and we aim to close at least five operations this year,” says Karen Wagner, partner of Ysios Capital.
Ysios BioFund III has expanded its investor base with new national institutional investors, international family offices, and the European Investment Fund via The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), with the support of the European Union under the Investment Plan for Europe.
“We have had an excellent support from our existing investor base, but also from new investors who are becoming interested in the biotech sector and have chosen us as their reference firm in the sector,” says Julia Salaverria, partner at Ysios Capital.
“In the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic, the biotechnology sector has become even more relevant as one of the key sectors that will prepare society for new health threats,” she added.
Ysios BioFund III will invest in companies that develop disruptive therapeutic products and platform technologies to address medical needs following an investment policy similar to its predecessor funds, according to the firm.
The fund will invest in up to 15 companies, mainly in Europe, with a particular interest in Spain. The initial investment will range between EUR5 and EUR10 million, up to a maximum of EUR 20 million cumulative. The fund may also invest in up to three seed rounds, committing lower amounts.
To date, Ysios has multiplied the capital invested by its funds in its portfolio companies by 9.3. The VC fim’s most important deals in Spain are the sale of Tigenix to Takeda for EUR450 million, the acquisition of STAT-Diagnostica by Qiagen (up to EUR172 million), the two rounds of international financing received by Sanifit (EUR109.3 million in total) and the investment and purchase option of Pfizer into Vivet (up to EUR 540 million).
