Innovestor Life Science – Exports from world-class health and life science research

Why?

Finnish universities conduct world-class life science research. However, there is an obvious need in Finland for a local venture capital fund that specialises in life sciences and can apply its expertise to helping commercialise life science innovations. Innovestor fills this gap with its Life Science fund.

Innovestor Life Science invests in Nordic health startups with the theme ”life-saving science”. The fund focuses on startups intend to solve global healthcare challenges. A particular interest for the fund is digital health products and early-stage pharmaceutical development.

What and how?

Innovestor Life Science brings not only equity but also considerable expertise to the companies it invests in. The fund’s founders and specialists are seasoned professionals capable of helping early-stage companies build teams, commercialise their innovations, network with other players, obtain follow-on financing, and expand internationally.

Growth and internationalisation

Although Finland conducts world-class research, it lags behind other Nordic countries in commercialising and internationalising health and life science innovations. Life science presents a hugely promising opportunity for boosting Finland’s exports and its successes could have a strongly beneficial societal impact.

In addition to sparring international expansion initiatives, Innovestor collaborates with the world’s leading health and life science funds and assists its portfolio companies with follow-on growth financing and internationalisation.

Tesi’s role in the fund

Tesi and the Kasvurahastojen Rahasto (KRR IV) fund-of-funds it manages are anchor investors in Innovestor Life Science. Tesi’s aim is to deploy a new Finnish health and life science fund in Finland’s venture capital market, with the particular goal of supporting the international commercialisation of innovations from universities and research institutes.

Tesi co-invests in venture capital and private equity funds as a minority investor, hand-in-hand with private investors and on the same market terms as them. In this way, together with co-investors, Finland’s new global success stories are created.

General information

Established in 2022, Innovestor Life Science is a specialised EUR 90 million fund investing in early-stage companies in the health and life science sector. Tesi and the Kasvurahastojen Rahasto (KRR IV) fund-of-funds it manages are anchor investors in the fund.

By May 2023 the fund had invested in six early-stage companies in the health and life science sector. Alongside its anchor investment, Tesi has sparred the Life Science Fund’s strategy to an international level. The fund’s founder members are Milla Koistinaho, an adjunct professor in neurobiology and a serial entrepreneur, Pekka Simula, a seasoned veteran with CEO and founder experience of health startups, and Petri Laine, one of Finland’s most experienced venture capital investors.