Institut Mérieux joins Venture Centre of Excellence

Institut Mérieux, a group of companies that EIT Health partner bioMérieux is part of, has joined the Venture Centre of Excellence (VCoE). By subscribing to the financial vehicle of VCoE, Institut Mérieux joins numerous corporate members and venture capital funds. Together they will support the European life sciences start-ups shaping the medicine of tomorrow.

Launched in 2020, VCoE is a pan-European co-investment programme in health innovation, run by EIT Health and the European Investment Fund (EIF). It represents €1.7 billion in investment capability and is the first open innovation programme of its kind in the life sciences sector in Europe. VCoE aims to foster collaboration between life science venture capital funds and corporates, stimulating investments in European start-ups and SMEs across medtech, biotech and digital health.

Joining VCoE strengthens Institut Mérieux’s links to EIT Health and demonstrates their commitment to support the health innovation ecosystem. As it grows, VCoE will bring together more venture capital funds and key industrial health players, representing an investment capacity of more than €2 billion over 15 years. In doing so, VCoE aims to support nearly 200 promising SMEs in all sectors of life sciences in Europe, accompanying them in their development from seed stage onwards.

Jean-Marc Bourez, Interim CEO of EIT Health and Head of VCoE, welcomed the announcement saying: “bioMérieux is an active partner in EIT Health, and has funded two innovation projects – BRAINI and IMPACCT. Thanks to Institut Mérieux becoming a VCoE member, we are adding a new brick to our collaboration with them in the field of open innovation by adding to the existing collaborative R&D initiatives the ability to support start-ups in their equity fundraising rounds.”

Learn more about the Venture Centre of Excellence.