The vehicle will back early-stage life sciences proposals from Utrecht province with support from both UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University.
Utrecht Holdings, the Netherlands-based investment management unit for Utrecht University and University Medical Centre (UMC) Utrecht, is raising a €5.4m ($6.1m) seed fund to back health-related startups in Utrecht province.
The fund will officially launch on March 24, 2020. It is unclear how much of its target corpus has already been raised.
Utrecht Holdings will manage the program with the backing of both Utrecht universities, economic promotion agency Economic Board Utrecht and the EU-owned European Regional Development Fund.
Utrecht Health Seed Fund will target emerging technologies across biotech, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, digital health services, medical devices and animal health.
The plan is to invest when startups are preparing to scale, at a stage where raising money is otherwise challenging. Utrecht Health Seed Fund will not invest in healthcare providers or consulting companies.
Founded in 1998, Utrecht Holdings aims to protect and monetise intellectual properties from its participating institutions through two dedicated subsidiaries: UU Holding for the university and UMC Utrecht Holding for the medical centre.
The body assists entrepreneurs and inventors as they build spinouts, supplying feasibility study funding and connections to potential industry partners.
