Wellington Partners, a European venture capital firm investing in early- and growth-stage life science companies, has appointed Dr Karl Naegler as a Managing Partner, effective 1 January, 2020. Naegler has a strong track record of investments in early and later stage life science companies as well as deep sector knowledge and an extensive global network from over 18 years of industry experience.
Previously, he was a Partner at Gimv, a publicly listed private equity and venture capital investment firm, where he had been responsible for life science investments within Gimv’s Health & Care team, since 2011. He was instrumental in creating and growing numerous European biopharma and medtech companies, many of them to successful exits, such as Breath Therapeutics (acquired by Zambon), Prosonix (acquired by Circassia) and Covagen (acquired by Johnson & Johnson). Karl also helped to expand Gimv’s life science team and advisory network as well as the firm’s international reach.
He began his professional career in 2002 at Atlas Venture in London and Munich, and later joined Ventech, a Paris-based venture capital firm focused on Europe and China. Karl holds a PhD in Molecular Neurobiology from Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin.
Regina Hodits, Managing Partner of Wellington Partners, says: “We are very pleased to have Karl joining our leadership team. With his remarkable track record of successfully investing in leading European life sciences companies and his experience in developing these firms to profitable exits for the investing funds, Karl perfectly complements our investment group here at Wellington.”
