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1st investment of the Fonds National d’Amorçage in Inserm Transfert Initiative
Investments for the future - 12 January 2012
Created within the Program of Investments for the Future (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir - PIA) and managed by CDC Entreprises, the Fonds National d’Amorçage (French Seed-stage Investment Fund - FNA) makes its first investment taking a €15mn part in the €33.5mn capital increase of Inserm Transfert Initiative.
In addition to the funds provided by the FNA seed-stage national fund, Inserm Transfert Initiative will also receive support from health and medical research institute Inserm via its subsidiary Inserm Transfert (€5mn), from CDC Entreprise acting on behalf of FSI France Investissement (€5mn) and from private partners and key players in the pharmaceutical and health industries. Lyons-based insurance company Sham and a number of leading French and international pharmaceutical firms (Abbott, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, GlaxoSmithKline, Ipsen, LFB Biotechnologies, MSD France and Sanofi) will be contributing €8.5mn to the capital increase.
This increase in its capital will make Inserm Transfert Initiative, a specialist in seed funding in the life sciences and health fields, the first seed-stage and pre-seed stage player in the life sciences to be backed by a public research body in France.
The object of the operation is to enable Inserm Transfert Initiative to support the growth of 15 to 20 new businesses through an average €2mn investment of per firm over a five-year period.
Inserm Transfert Initiative was set up in 2005 in partnership with Inserm Transfert, CDC Entreprises, Sofinnova Partners and Natexis Venture Selection to remedy the lack of funding available to biotechnology firms emerging from academic research. In just a few years, Inserm Transfert Initiative has built up a portfolio of 14 businesses.
The FNA, allocated €400mn in government funds as part of the PIA Investment Programme for the Future and managed by CDC Entreprises, invests in 15 to 20 seed funds managed by professional management teams investing in innovative young firms in the seed and start-up stages.
The funds invested by the FNA will focus primarily on companies in technological sectors singled out under the French national strategy for research and innovation: health, food technology and biotechnology, information and communication technology, nanotechnology and eco-technology.
