Polish VC firm Bitspiration VC is launching a new €50 million biotech fund, backed by investors including Snowflake co-founder Marcin Żukowski and Tomasz Onyszko, co-founder of Predica and CTO of Morning Brew.
- Called Bitspiration Biotech III (BB III), the fund plans to invest in up to 25 startups working on drug discovery, therapeutic and diagnostic technologies, synthetic biology, and advanced biomaterials. It is particularly interested in platform technologies that can be used to develop multiple products rather than a single application.
- It will mainly target pre-seed and seed-stage companies, although Series A investments are also on the table. Tickets will range from €250,000 to €4 million, with the fund aiming to take initial stakes of 2% to 15%.
- Of its planned capital, 30% will go towards initial investments, 40% will be reserved for follow-on rounds, and the remaining 30% will be used to back more mature startups. The first portfolio companies are expected to be announced this quarter.
- Alongside capital, Bitspiration plans to help startups navigate regulatory requirements, validate their technologies, recruit teams, and bring their products to market.
Who's running the fund?
Dr Sebastian Soluch is joining Bitspiration VC as General Partner to lead the new fund alongside Andrzej Targosz.
Soluch has spent more than 20 years in pharma, biotech, and medtech, working on international market expansion, pricing and reimbursement strategies, and bringing healthcare products to market. He was also involved in Novartis' acquisition of Advanced Accelerator Applications and Menarini's acquisition of Stemline.
Bitspiration VC is no newcomer to deeptech investing
Its previous fund, ASI BB2, has made 13 direct and 28 indirect investments.
- The firm's portfolio includes Polish robotics startup Nomagic, air quality monitoring company Airly, telecom technology developer IS-Wireless, cybersecurity startup Secfense, and biotech companies FibriTech and Proteine Resources.
- Now, with BB III, Bitspiration VC is putting biotech at the centre of its investment strategy, betting on early-stage scientific technologies with the potential to reach international markets.
