Europe’s life sciences sector has seen a strong start to the year for venture capital investments, as a handful of mega-rounds has already pushed Q1 deal value past the last quarter’s halfway mark.
In less than a month, €1.2 billion has been invested in European life sciences startups, according to PitchBook data. This represents 55.7% of total deal value in the region this year and over a third of the capital invested in life sciences globally.
While deal value has risen, the number of European life sciences rounds is still declining, meaning that fewer but larger deals are closing. This is expected to continue throughout 2025 globally, according to PitchBook’s 2025 Healthcare & Life Sciences Outlook, as investors increasingly target late-stage, capital-intensive companies.
Among recent notable life sciences deals is London-based weight-loss startup Verdiva Bio’s $411 million Series A led by Forbion and General Atlantic—the fourth largest VC deal in the space in the past decade.
Other mega-rounds this month include UK-based biopharmaceutical company Apollo Therapeutics’ $226.5 million Series C and biotech startup Numab Therapeutics’ 180 million Swiss franc (around $ 196.4 million) Series C.
Life sciences investments previously peaked in 2021 at €9.8 billion as the sector saw an unprecedented surge in VC appetite as a result of the global demand for diagnostics, vaccines and treatments stemming from COVID-19.
The overexuberance of investments during the pandemic led to a sharp drop in dealmaking in the sector once the market corrected in the face of a general downturn in the VC market. But while many sectors struggled to raise funding last year, life sciences was one of a handful of exceptions, registering a 20% increase in deal value compared to 2023.
Coinciding with an uptick in dealmaking, several new European funds closed last year, increasing capital available for life sciences startups. In October, specialist Dutch firm Forbion raised over €2 billion across two funds including a €1.2 billion growth vehicle. Earlier in the year, Belgium’s Imec.xpand launched a €300 capital pool.
Dealmaking is expected to continue climbing this year for life sciences startups globally as technological advancements brought forth by AI increase opportunities within the space.
Featured image by Qi Yang/Getty Images
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