Index Ventures banks ˆ650M for its new tech fund

Print 06 April 2015
John Carroll / FierceBiotech

Index Ventures now has 650 million more euros to invest. The venture group, which has two big teams active on both sides of the Atlantic in life sciences as well as tech, filed documents with the SEC noting that its new Index Ventures Growth III--domiciled in Jersey--is fully sold.

There was no immediate response to a query from FierceBiotech about its plans for the new money. But Index has been a key go-to VC in the European biotech scene in recent years. And like a lot of VCs, Index is finding that an acquisitive crowd of Big Pharma players has provided some nice exits in a booming market, setting the stage for a whole new generation of funds like this.

In just the last few months Index has seen its first exit (for X01) out of its special, asset-centric biotech portfolio set up with J&J and GlaxoSmithKline, the sale of GlycoVaxyn, a spinout from ETH Zurich that was snapped up by GlaxoSmithKline for its work on bioconjugate vaccines, and Merck's buyout of OncoEthix.

Even with a weak euro Index still has $706 million to invest, making it one of the bigger new funds to debut in a go-go investment scene.

Flagship Ventures rolled out its new early-stage fund with $537 million just days ago, as it was partnering up with Arch Venture to operate a special $150 million venture effort aimed at encouraging the growth of a biotech hub in New York City. Two months ago Lux Capital, which includes biotech in its lineup, raised $350 million. New Enterprise Associates is working on its latest $2.5 billion-plus behemoth, while a whole string of new funds has appeared over the past 18 months promising to bankroll a new wave of biotechs for several years to come.

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