Royal Philips Electronics has joined Gilde Healthcare III, a new venture capital fund focusing on early and growth stage healthcare technology companies in Europe and the US.
Philips is investing in Gilde Healthcare III in order to foster innovation in areas of strategic interest to its healthcare business.
The fund will be fully independent of Philips’ existing innovation efforts, including the Philips Healthcare Incubator.
“Over the past years the venturing community has been instrumental in bringing breakthrough healthcare innovations to the market,” says Steve Rusckowski, chief executive of Philips Healthcare. “Through our participation in the Gilde Healthcare III venture capital fund, we are taking another step forward in driving innovation in areas of strategic interest to Philips in healthcare. At the same time we will become even more connected to the venturing community, which is an important element of Philips’ open innovation approach.”
As one of the fund’s anchor investors, Philips has contributed to shaping part of the fund’s scope. The fund will focus on home healthcare solutions, sleep improvement techniques, image-guided interventions/therapies and clinical decision support, with particular emphasis on cardiology, oncology and women’s health.
Philips holds a minority share in the fund and it is being joined by additional institutional financial investors. The fund has a target size of EUR200m (USD250m). It will be managed by Gilde Healthcare Partners, a Dutch venture and growth capital firm that currently has more than EUR300m under management.
