Sofinnova Capital XI raises €650M to fund early-stage biotech EU+

Sofinnova Partners has closed its latest flagship vehicle, Sofinnova Capital XI, at €650 million ($750 million), handily surpassing its original target. The Paris-headquartered life sciences investor said the fund will concentrate on seed and Series A opportunities across biopharma and medical devices in Europe and North America.

The raise lifts Sofinnova’s active platform to roughly €1.5bn in capital deployed or available in the past year, reinforcing a multi-strategy approach that combines deep scientific diligence with hands-on company building. The firm, which traces its roots back to 1972, now manages over €4 billion in assets and has helped build more than 500 companies into commercial-stage players.

Leadership on Capital XI includes a cross-border investment team: Maina Bhaman, Anta Gkelou, Karl Naegler, Antoine Papiernik, Henrijette Richter and Graziano Seghezzi. Sofinnova said the vehicle drew support from a global mix of limited partners — sovereign funds, strategic corporates, insurers, foundations and family offices — with a majority of LPs returning and a substantial cohort of new institutional names participating.

Antoine Papiernik, Managing Partner and Chairman, framed the close as a step-change in the firm’s capacity to back early innovation, saying the fund provides the resources to take larger initial positions in high-potential programs and to follow winners through multiple financing rounds. Sofinnova noted that Capital XI is already deploying capital, with initial commitments across Europe and the US.

European life-sciences venture activity has rebounded after a tight fundraising cycle, with several established investors raising vehicles in the mid‑hundreds of millions to target early-stage therapeutics and medtech. For founders, larger early-stage funds like Sofinnova Capital XI mean more patient capital for translational R&D, expanded clinical proof-of-concept funding and deeper support for regulatory and commercial planning.

Operationally, the fund will leverage Sofinnova’s pan-European footprint — with teams in Paris, London and Milan — and established networks in the US to source cross-border opportunities. With the new capital, the firm is positioned to back the next cohort of biotech and medtech firms translating laboratory science into patient-ready products.