Forbion Launches BioEconomy Fund with €75 Million Close

Forbion has announced the first close of its Forbion BioEconomy Fund I (FBF I) with €75 million of capital. The new fund has a target of €150 million with a final close expected by year end.

FBF I represents an expansion of Forbion’s biopharmaceutical drug development strategy and will leverage its biotech expertise to invest in companies that are using biotechnologies to create sustainable solutions in food, agriculture, materials, and environmental technologies sectors. The fund will target companies that have demonstrated proof of concept, typically at Series A and B stages, focusing on scalable, cost-effective, business-to-business solutions that replace incumbent products at price parity or better.

“The launch of BioEconomy Fund I is further evidence of Forbion’s commitment to creating positive impact,” said Sander Slootweg, a managing partner and co-founder of Forbion. “It leverages our existing capabilities in supporting innovative biotechs to back a new generation of companies with growth capital so they can translate their innovation into valuable and commercial products and services to address urgent sustainability challenges.”

The market for biotech-enabled alternatives is estimated to exceed $2 trillion in the next decade, according to industry projections. This growth is driven by increasing demand for sustainable solutions in food production, agriculture, materials science, and environmental technologies. The bioeconomy sector is expected to play an important role in addressing global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and food security.

“We are at the dawn of a significant bio-enabled revolution, driven by a wealth of talent, innovation and purpose, a combination that is catalytic to urgently safeguarding the future of our planet,” said Joy Faucher, a partner at Forbion. “We look forward to working with transformational companies reaching many industries and parts of society, to bring them to a scale that is meaningful and disruptive to the status quo.”

In tandem with the first close of FBF I, Forbion has opened a new office in Boston, and hired Josh Brumm as General Partner to expand its presence in the US and Canadian biotech markets.

Mr. Brumm is an experienced biotech executive and investor and most recently was the CEO of Dyne Therapeutics, a portfolio company of Forbion, and he has held COO/CFO roles at Kaleido Biosciences and Versartis. Mr. Brumm has led multiple successful IPOs and raised approximately $2.5 billion across six companies. Mr. Brumm has his undergraduate degree in finance and economics from the University of Notre Dame.

“I am delighted to be joining Forbion,” said Mr. Brumm. “Having worked with the firm over a number of years as the CEO of a Forbion portfolio company, I know first-hand the quality of the team and feel privileged to be working more closely with them. I look forward to helping them build great biotech companies, supporting their existing portfolio, and bringing transformative therapies to patients.”

“The new office provides our firm with a location in the heart of the Boston biotech hub to support our long-standing activities in the US market,” said Martien van Osch, a co-founder and managing partner at Forbion. “Josh’s track record as a biotech leader speaks for itself, with four Nasdaq IPOs under his belt and around $2.5 billion raised across six companies. We are thrilled to have him on board to support our portfolio companies and help us seek out new investment opportunities in the United States and beyond. Opening an office in Boston is a natural next step for Forbion, supporting our existing portfolio in both Europe and North America.”

Forbion invests in life sciences companies that are active in the biopharmaceutical space, with a portfolio of over 100 companies across 8 funds. The firm was founded in 2006 and now manages more than €3 billion in assets across multiple fund strategies covering various stages of biopharmaceutical drug development. Forbion is headquartered in Naarden, The Netherlands, with an additional office in Munich, Germany.