Venture Capital Firms Attend EuroMedtech™
in Force
Seeking investments, high investor turn-out bodes
well for medtech start-ups and emerging companies
Carlsbad, USA, and Duesseldorf, Germany. April
21, 2009: Already over 25 venture capitalists
(VCs) are registered to attend the inaugural EuroMedtech™
2009 partnering conference at the Maritim Hotel in Duesseldorf,
Germany on June 3–4. Powered by partneringONE™, the industry’s
most advanced partnering system, EuroMedtech facilitates
one-to-one meetings between emerging innovator firms,
large multi-disciplinary healthcare and biomedical companies
and investment firms.
Held in one of the largest life science clusters in Europe,
EuroMedtech 2009 will play host to leading European VC
firms such as Abingworth, Edmond de Rothschild Investment
Partners, Earlybird Venture Capital, Sofinnova, NIBC Capital
Partners I B.V., Gilde Healthcare Partners and High-Tech
Gründerfonds. Attracting a critical mass of emerging innovator
medtech companies, these VCs view EuroMedtech as an exceptional
opportunity to discover, meet with and evaluate companies
with technologies that address unmet medical needs or
provide a cost effective alternative to current treatments.
Describing his views on medtech investing and partnering
at EuroMedtech 2009, Olivier Litzka, partner with venture
firm Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, said: “I
believe that EuroMedtech can become a premium event for
medical technology in the way that EBD Group’s BIO-Europe
conference has proven to be important for biotechnology.
There is a need for this event because medical technology
has been underserved for real partnering. The expertise
is here in Europe and clearly there are interested investors.
Combining that with the champion partnering capabilities
we have seen with EBD Group is fantastic and really creates
a chance to move things forward.”
Elaborating on her views of medtech investing, Dr. Caroline
Fichtner, Investment Manager for High-Tech Gründerfonds
Management, commented: “A third of our portfolio is in
life sciences and out of this at least one third is for
medical technologies. It is a very vital segment for investment
for us and very attractive in terms of the shorter approval
timelines for e.g. devices and the funding necessary to
reach milestones. Our investment is limited to EUR 500,000
in the seed financing so it is easier to get to key milestones
in the medtech area with that kind of funding.”
“We see a lot of attractive opportunities for medical
technology among German companies because this sector
is especially strong here with several large multinational
companies and a traditionally heavy focus in research
and development,” she added.
EuroMedtech 2009 Venture Academy
To help ensure that presentations have the maximum impact
at the EuroMedtech conference, innovative start-up companies,
spin-off enterprises and technology transfer departments
will receive intensive coaching and feedback from industry
insiders and investors at a Venture Academy, being held
on June 2nd at the Life Science Center in Dusseldorf.
Organized by EBD Group in collaboration with the German
State of North Rhein-Westphalia and the City of Duesseldorf,
the Venture Academy is a half-day program that aims to
provide a taste of the real world of doing business for
these young companies.
Invited panelists, who will also offer pointers and helpful
suggestions for presentations, include Dr. Hubertus Rosery
from Assessment in Medicine (AiM), Dr. Klaus Nestler from
CFP BioConnect AG and Dr. Christine Fitchner from High-Tech
Gründerfonds Management GmbH. They will be accompanied
by Reinhard Merz of TCG, Christian Schneider, from Vesalius
BioCapital and Martin Krauss with FGK Clinical Research.
About EBD Group
EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global
life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and
medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group’s partnering
conferences, technology and services to identify business
opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential
to their success. EBD Group’s conferences are run with
the support of leading corporations and international
trade associations and include:
- BIO-Europe and BIO-Europe Spring®, the
world's largest stand-alone life science partnering
conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry
Organization (BIO)
- BioPharm America™, EBD Group’s North American partnering
event
- EuroMedtech™, EBD Group’s new partnering event for
the innovative medical technology industry
- BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized
with BioCentury Publications and BIO
- ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, the first dedicated
biotech/pharma partnering conference in China
EBD Group’s sophisticated web-based partnering service,
partneringONE™, is used as the partnering engine at numerous
third-party events around the world. Outside of the conference
format, EBD Group’s consultants provide hands-on assistance
for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies.
EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.
