Investments
87Portfolio Exits
10Funds
6Partners & Customers
1About Kurma Partners
Kurma Partners is a venture capital firm that focuses on healthcare and biotechnology in Europe. The firm invests at various stages of maturity, from company creation to capital expansion. Kurma Partners brings together, within a network of international alliances, leading European research institutes to be able to identify promising projects in France and Europe. It partners with Cancer Research Technology, Institut Pasteur, and Conectus Alsace.

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Latest Kurma Partners News
Sep 7, 2023
V-Bio Ventures portfolio company Corteria Pharmaceuticals raises EUR 65 million to advance its transformational medicines for cardiovascular diseases Ghent, Belgium, 7 September 2023 – Corteria Pharmaceuticals, a V-Bio Ventures portfolio company, is a biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of transformative therapies for unaddressed heart failure subpopulations. Corteria today announced an oversubscribed EUR 65 million Series A co-led by US investment firm OrbiMed and EU-based leading investment firm Jeito Capital, with the participation of all existing seed investors (V-Bio Ventures, Kurma Partners, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Invivo Capital, and Omnes Capital). The funding will be used to advance Corteria’s cardiovascular pipeline into the clinic. Heart failure is a serious disease with a prevalence of more than 60 million patients globally and still growing. Corteria’s innovative approach consists of selecting therapeutic targets involved in the worsening and acute forms of human heart failure, as well as a stratification strategy to identify specific subgroups that are most likely to benefit from the treatments. These forms of heart failure are widespread, life-threatening, and not directly addressed by the current standards of care. Corteria was founded in 2021 by Sanofi’s former head of cardiovascular research, Philip Janiak, and Marie-Laure Ozoux, former cardiovascular project leader at Sanofi, around two cardiovascular programs in-licensed from Sanofi[1]. Since then, Corteria’s pipeline has expanded rapidly and today comprises three first-in-class therapies that are highly differentiated as they produce multi-organ benefits, acting on the kidneys, the vessels, and the heart: A once-daily subcutaneous CRF2[2] agonist for the treatment of Worsening Heart Failure A once-monthly subcutaneous CRF2[2] agonist for the treatment of Right Heart Failure An AVP (arginine vasopressin) neutralizing monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Acute Heart Failure with Hyponatremia The lead asset for Worsening Heart Failure is expected to enter the clinic in early 2024. [1] CRF2 peptide agonist and AVP neutralizing monoclonal antibody programs [2] Corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 About V-Bio Ventures V-Bio Ventures is an independent venture capital firm specialized in building and financing young, innovative life sciences companies. V-Bio Ventures was established in 2015 and works closely with Belgium-based VIB, one of the world’s premier life science institutes. The fund invests throughout Europe in start-up and early-stage companies with high growth potential focusing on technologies that provide transformational improvements in the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, diagnostics and agricultural sectors.
Kurma Partners Investments
87 Investments
Kurma Partners has made 87 investments. Their latest investment was in Corteria Pharmaceuticals as part of their Series A on September 9, 2023.

Kurma Partners Investments Activity

Date | Round | Company | Amount | New? | Co-Investors | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9/7/2023 | Series A | Corteria Pharmaceuticals | $71M | No | 2 | |
9/5/2023 | Seed | Axithra | $10.73M | Yes | 2 | |
8/7/2023 | PIPE - II | IO Biotech | $75M | No | Altamont Pharmaceutical Holdings, Armistice Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Kurma Partners, Logos Capital, Lundbeckfond Ventures, Marshall Wace Asset Management, Novo Holdings, PFM Health Sciences, Pivotal Life Sciences, Red Hook Management, Samsara BioCapital, Stonepine Capital Management, Sunstone Capital, Undisclosed Investors, and Vivo Capital | 2 |
3/28/2023 | Series A | |||||
3/9/2023 | Series B |
Date | 9/7/2023 | 9/5/2023 | 8/7/2023 | 3/28/2023 | 3/9/2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Round | Series A | Seed | PIPE - II | Series A | Series B |
Company | Corteria Pharmaceuticals | Axithra | IO Biotech | ||
Amount | $71M | $10.73M | $75M | ||
New? | No | Yes | No | ||
Co-Investors | Altamont Pharmaceutical Holdings, Armistice Capital, HBM Healthcare Investments, Kurma Partners, Logos Capital, Lundbeckfond Ventures, Marshall Wace Asset Management, Novo Holdings, PFM Health Sciences, Pivotal Life Sciences, Red Hook Management, Samsara BioCapital, Stonepine Capital Management, Sunstone Capital, Undisclosed Investors, and Vivo Capital | ||||
Sources | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Kurma Partners Portfolio Exits
10 Portfolio Exits
Kurma Partners has 10 portfolio exits. Their latest portfolio exit was Emergence Therapeutics on June 30, 2023.
Date | Exit | Companies | Valuation Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model. | Acquirer | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
6/30/2023 | Acquired | 3 | |||
3/2/2023 | Merger | 3 | |||
11/8/2021 | Acquired | Philips | 4 | ||
Date | 6/30/2023 | 3/2/2023 | 11/8/2021 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Exit | Acquired | Merger | Acquired | ||
Companies | |||||
Valuation | |||||
Acquirer | Philips | ||||
Sources | 3 | 3 | 4 |
Kurma Partners Fund History
6 Fund Histories
Kurma Partners has 6 funds, including Kurma Growth Opportunities Fund.
Closing Date | Fund | Fund Type | Status | Amount | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3/8/2022 | Kurma Growth Opportunities Fund | $174.54M | 1 | ||
12/8/2021 | Kurma Diagnostics 2 | ||||
4/30/2020 | Kurma Biofund III | ||||
5/26/2015 | Kurma Diagnostics | ||||
Kurma Biofund I |
Closing Date | 3/8/2022 | 12/8/2021 | 4/30/2020 | 5/26/2015 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fund | Kurma Growth Opportunities Fund | Kurma Diagnostics 2 | Kurma Biofund III | Kurma Diagnostics | Kurma Biofund I |
Fund Type | |||||
Status | |||||
Amount | $174.54M | ||||
Sources | 1 |
Kurma Partners Partners & Customers
1 Partners and customers
Kurma Partners has 1 strategic partners and customers. Kurma Partners recently partnered with Heidelberg Pharma on November 11, 2019.
Date | Type | Business Partner | Country | News Snippet | Sources |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11/20/2019 | Licensor | Germany | 1 |
Date | 11/20/2019 |
---|---|
Type | Licensor |
Business Partner | |
Country | Germany |
News Snippet | |
Sources | 1 |
Kurma Partners Team
3 Team Members
Kurma Partners has 3 team members, including current Managing Partner, Thierry Laugel.
Name | Work History | Title | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Thierry Laugel | Managing Partner | Current | |
Name | Thierry Laugel | ||
---|---|---|---|
Work History | |||
Title | Managing Partner | ||
Status | Current |
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