Spain: Ysios Capital targets 15 investments from close of €216m third fund

Spain-based biotech venture capital firm, Ysios Capital, has closed its third fund, Ysios BioFund 3 (YBF 3) at €216m (US$264m).

Its largest fund to date, YBF 3 will invest across multiple therapeutic areas, targeting seed/early stage and development-stage companies. Total investment per company will typically be up to €20m for lead positions.

As with previous funds, about 80% of YBF 3 will target European investments, particularly those in Spain. The remainder will target opportunities in North America.

More than 60% of the portfolio has already been constructed, with eight investments made in the last 12 months by blue-chip European and US investors. It plans to invest in up to 15 companies in total.

Following an initial investment of €30m, the European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the European Investment Bank Group and a leading player in the European Venture Capital market, mobilised an additional €30m participation in the fund. This brings EIF’s total participation in the fund to 27.7%.

Two-thirds of the additional €30m is backed by the European Guarantee Fund, part of the European Union’s €540bn response to the economic fallout caused by Covid-19. The remaining €10m is supported by the Health Compartment of the group’s Sustainable Development Umbrella Fund which aims to crowd-in resources from private investors operating in the pharma and med-tech industry.

Since its inception, Ysios has invested in 33 companies. Currently, over 40 medical products across the portfolio are at the clinical stage for serious diseases and over €1bn has been invested in R&D.

It recently led, alongside Novo Seeds, a €51m (US$61m) Series A financing for Adcendo, the largest series A financing for a Danish biotech company.