Asabys Partners, a Pan-European Venture Capital firm specialized in investments in the life sciences and health sectors, and Alantra, an investment banking and asset management firm, have reached an agreement by which Alantra becomes a strategic partner of Asabys through the acquisition of a 35% stake in the firm.

The transaction has the support of Banc Sabadell as one of the promoters of the project and anchor investor in Asabys’ first vehicle ("Sabadell Asabys Health Innovation Investments SCR SA"). As part of the agreement, Alantra will invest in the first vehicle of Asabys and will support the search for new investors and the internationalization of the project.

Luminous Ventures has made a £1million investment in Optellum, developers of the world’s first AI clinical diagnosis support software for personalized early lung cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Aergo, a company that has developed a responsive posture support system which empowers wheelchair users, ahas completed an equity funding round with the help of ClearlySo, Europe’s leading impact investment bank. The funding will go towards expanding the team and product manufacturing and piloting.

Vesalius Biocapital III, the specialist life sciences venture capital investor, has closed its VBC III fund securing EUR 120 million of equity commitments. This includes commitments of EUR 30 million from the European Investment Fund (EIF) and new and existing investors from Europe, the Americas and MENA. The fund is a validation of Vesalius’ proven approach to invest in later-stage European life sciences companies, providing capital to support their development. Vesalius Biocapital III has executed three investments to date.

Foresight Group LLP has announced a £4 million growth capital investment into Ten Health and Fitness Limited, a fast-growing provider of health and fitness services in London. 

North West-focused Praetura Ventures has backed fertility startup Dr Fertility in a £1m seed round. The first investment of Praetura’s maiden EIS Fund will be used to develop Dr Fertility into a full-service digital health platform.  Founded by Dr Lucy Buckley, PhD and Kobi McCardle in June 2018, Dr Fertility was created to address the problem of conflicting, unreliable information about fertility. With patients having to wait up to two years between GP advice and the first outpatient appointment, and no central, official platform for fertility advice, Lucy and Kobi saw the need to support the 1 in 7 couples in the UK that are affected by infertility. 

hero, a health tech and wellbeing strategy provider formed to have a positive influence on individuals, organisations and communities by supporting proactive wellness across all areas of physical, mental and financial health, has closed its latest funding round, raising over £1.3 million to tackle these issues head on.  

Having already established itself in the workplace and developer markets and the professional sports sector, hero works with over 100 clients across the UK including names like the NHS, HSBC, Legal and General, Caddick Construction and Inspired Villages. hero has developed and launched a unique digital platform - Navigator to enable employers and organisation to create a full service solution to deliver preventive and personalised experiences for end users.  

Downing Ventures has led a £1.5 million funding in The Electrospinning Company, alongside VC firm MidVen, Newable Private Investing and the STFC.

Domain Therapeutics has announced that it has secured a €3.5M ($3.9M) investment from existing shareholder Seventure Partners, to accelerate its next growth phase. 

Syncona Ltd has founded Quell Therapeutics, a new cell therapy company, with a £35 million commitment in a Series A financing of which Syncona has committed £34.0 million with a further £1.0 million being contributed by UCL Technology Fund. Syncona will have a 69.3 per cent stake (1) in the business, with the first tranche of the Series A commitment of £8.3m paid in May 2019.

Angel backed novel diagnostic developer PBD Biotech has appointed new CEO Mark Hammond to drive the company’s expansion. 

The global biomedical market is in the midst of a period of stable growth and Catalonia, one of the most dynamic healthcare hubs in the world, is also enjoying this trend. 2018 was a positive year for the Catalan biomedical business fabric, in terms of funding, R&D alliances and advances, and launching new drugs and medical technology.