Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus entering into a strategic partnership with Thuja Capital
Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus is entering into a strategic partnership with investor Thuja Capital. The campus is also joining forces with six other large parties as part of a new Thuja investment fund, including the Limburg development company LIOF and the European Investment Fund EIF. The fund has a starting capital of 45 million Euros earmarked for helping startups and re-entrants active in the healthcare sector.
According to Jan Cobbenhagen, CEO of Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, the partnership with Thuja Capital offers extra opportunities for startups and spin-offs at the campus in Maastricht. “As one of the few life sciences venture capital funds, Thuja’s investment starts during the ‘seed’ phase. These new companies then enter into an active partnership with the Technology Transfer Organizations (TTO) at universities and UMCs, such as Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus. This strategic partnership enables selected spin-offs to increase their investor readiness through access to Thuja’s knowledge, network and expertise.”
Successful startups
With fifteen years of experience, Thuja Capital is one of the older venture capital companies in the Netherlands. During this time, Thuja has invested in a number of successful startups including a few which can hardly be considered “small potatoes”. “Argenx and others are now among the largest biotech companies in Europe,” says Michel Briejer, managing partner of Thuja Capital, looking back with pride. “Since we founded the company, we have focused entirely on starting entrepreneurs who want to turn an idea in the medical field into a business. This might involve the development of a new medicine, a medical device or software. These are products that must be officially certified and that require market authorization. The ideas behind the products often arise at teaching hospitals and universities, during a PhD dissertation project, for example. Doctors and researchers find a new approach for a medicine or devise a revolutionary diagnostic tool. This is all well and good, but what’s the next step? No bank or traditional investor will want to get in on the ground floor because the financial risk is too high. Great ideas like this usually just end up on a shelf somewhere, collecting dust. This is the point where venture capital companies like Thuja Capital get involved.”
Jan Cobbenhagen
Capital and supervision
So, Thuja’s just got a giant safe full of money? “It’s not quite that simple,” Michel Briejer continues. “First, we meet with the researcher or prospective entrepreneur. After an initial screening, we decide whether further investigation is warranted. If so, we will consult our broad network; we work with specialists to assess the technical and medical feasibility, followed by market research and we eventually create a detailed business plan. We then discuss it with our own advisory board. If they’re also enthusiastic about a project, we provide the necessary capital and guidance in exchange for shares in the new company.”
Thuja is not a fund looking to earn a fast profit. “On the contrary; our participation runs for eight to ten years on average. Once the company has reached the ‘mature’ stage, we withdraw and sell our shares. A great example is Nightbalance which developed a device to treat sleep apnea and has since been acquired by Philips. There’s also Argenx and Galapagos of courses, which are listed on the stock exchange. Naturally our ultimate goal, apart from having an impact, is to make a profit, for our shareholders and because we always have new entrepreneurs contacting us. Our mission is to contribute to innovations that have an impact on healthcare.”
Teamwork
Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus will be participating in the Thuja Capital Healthcare Fund III by contributing a modest sum. “Most important to us is the strategic collaboration; this will mean that we are in an even better position to take the ideas originating at Maastricht University and Maastricht UMC+ which have the most potential and turn them into successful companies with the necessary financing and follow-up funding,” according to Jan Cobbenhagen. “As a campus, our job is to set up spin-offs and support them in achieving their growth ambitions. We have to find ways to translate great ideas for use in society, via practical applications such as medicine and equipment, and this requires substantial investments. This is what makes a spin-off’s ‘investor readiness’ so crucial to successfully reaching the market. Thuja has a lot of experience with financing spin-offs from academic medical centers and universities, and has a broad venture capital network. LIOF’s participation in this partnership is an advantage for our ecosystem. This is why I’m so confident that various spin-offs will benefit from this collaboration.”
Capital
Thuja Capital is a familiar “face” at many university medical centers, in the Netherlands (Radboud and Utrecht UMC), Belgium (Liège and Hasselt) and since last year, in Germany (Aachen). Two Maastricht startups based at the Brightlands Health Campus are also working with capital from Thuja. This number will undoubtedly rise with the third Thuja Capital Healthcare Fund. “This is what we expect, at any rate,” says Michel Briejer. “This region is so innovative with a few top centers within a 25-kilometer radius in Aachen, Liège, Hasselt and Maastricht. We are seeing cross-border collaboration growing, and the joining of forces. After all, there’s a good reason Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus and LIOF are getting involved in this fund. They see our track record and know that we make good choices, given the expertise in our network. We are also looking forward to working with them. 45 million Euros will buy us a lot of power to help give 10 to 15 starters a leg up. This number can even grow; we would like to increase the capital. There’s certainly no shortage of interest, or capital for that matter. However, we don’t work with parties just interested in cashing in quickly.”
Ambitions
Tys van Elk, director of development company LIOF, on the participation in Thuja Capital’s new fund: “It’s a strong fund management company with a solid track record, both in terms of substance as well as the returns on previous funds. Thuja is a so-called lifecycle investor, choosing projects where it can finance growth from startup to scale-up and beyond. The fund is a good fit for the ambitions of Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus, and for LIOF, an important player in this part of the ecosystem in Limburg.”
Investment and funding
Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus can help (bio)medical scientists or entrepreneurs by advising and supporting the most appropriate finance options, such as private equity, venture capital, loans, fiscal advantages and grants. In this way, researchers and entrepreneurs can focus on realizing valuable (bio) medical innovation.
Source: Brightland Newsletter
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