• Managed by BioGeneration Ventures, FIRST II is a dedicated pre-seed fund supporting academic researchers, with an expanded focus on chronic diseases.

• Supported by Dutch health foundations including the Dutch Heart Foundation, regional Dutch investment funds, as well as other public and private investors

• FIRST II bridges the gap between academic discovery and seed-stage investment to accelerate patient-impacting innovation.

The fund is backed by a combination of public and private parties such as the Dutch Heart Foundation (in collaboration with the Dutch Cardiovascular Alliance (DCVA)), the Dutch Kidney Foundation and the mr. Roelsefonds, and has a cornerstone commitment from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Education, Culture and Science. Moreover, regional development agencies Brabantse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij, Innovation Quarter and OostNL have committed to the fund. 

Building on the success of FIRST I, with investments in companies like TargED and River Biomedics, FIRST II will continue to address the critical gap between academic discovery and early-stage investments in the Netherlands. The fund will focus on chronic diseases, where unmet medical needs and societal impact are very high. FIRST II will invest in new biotech, medtech and digital health companies. 

Rebecca Abma-Schouten, Scientific Director of the Dutch Heart Foundation, said, “We are convinced that our support to FIRST II will help to translate outstanding Dutch cardiovascular research into innovative products that meaningfully improve survival and quality of life for patients.” 

“With FIRST I we demonstrated that we can turn promising academic science into successful companies,” said Margien Boels, PhD, MBA, Investment Manager for FIRST. “We look forward to establishing new founding teams to mature science and build companies in chronic diseases. 

Edward van Wezel, Managing Partner at BioGeneration Ventures, said, “Pre-seed funding provided by FIRST II will help to optimally position innovative academic spinouts to access follow-on funding to create sustainable new biotech companies in the Netherlands".

About FIRST
BioGeneration Ventures’ FIRST Fund (Fonds InvesteringsRijpe Starters) is a pre-seed fund that finances pioneering scientists in The Netherlands who are active in the field of chronic diseases. FIRST supports leading scientists in these areas to transform their breakthrough discoveries into sustainable, innovative companies that can develop the products needed to improve patients’ lives. FIRST harnesses innovative science to foster its development into a product vision, and with an extensive network, attract follow-on investments. FIRST II is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Education, Culture and Science (under the TTT-regeling). 

About BGV
BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) is a venture capital company, with a focus on early-stage European biotech companies. The Company has a strong track record of significant financial returns through investing in innovations in healthcare and providing the expertise to build world-class companies. BGV manages over EUR 440 million investing in areas where true scientific innovations, unmet medical need, and the potential to demonstrate a significant proof of concept all converge. BGV strives to work with founding teams to mature science and build companies. The Company uses its experience to guide progress into clinical trials, ultimately leading to successful drug development and value realization for its investors. BGV is the early-stage focused platform partner of Forbion, a leading life sciences venture capital fund with deep roots in Europe.