The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Angelini Ventures – Angelini Industries’ corporate venture capital fund – have signed an agreement to provide €150 million in financing for European biotechnology and digital health startups.
This is the first agreement the EIB has signed with a corporate venture capital in healthcare sector, and states that Angelini Ventures and the EIB will each invest €75 million over the next six years.
Under the agreement, the EIB and Angelini plan to co-invest in a total of seven to ten European startups developing innovative solutions particularly suited for market launch, in areas such as biotechnology, medical technology and digital health.
“Initiatives like this strengthen Europe’s ability to lead technological innovation and generate tangible benefits for people, patients and businesses,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti. “Investing in biotechnology and digital health is vital, as it accelerates research, improves the quality of care, and supports the growth of companies able to bring cutting-edge solutions to market.”
Via the EIB Group’s investment programme TechEU, the EIB Group aims to invest €70 billion in equity, quasi-equity, loans and guarantees over the three-year period from 2025 to 2027, with the goal of mobilising €250 billion of investment in the real economy.
Founded in 2022 with €300 million from Angelini Industries — the Italian multinational in the health, industrial technology and consumer goods sectors — Angelini Ventures has already invested €125 million in 22 startups.
“This important agreement with the EIB enables us to bring our group’s commitment to innovation through venture capital to a European strategic context,” said Angelini Industries CEO Sergio Marullo di Condojanni.
“Being chosen by the EIB for an ambitious project aiming to consolidate Europe’s role in innovation and health is an opportunity to work towards the common goal of turning researchers’ excellent ideas into products and services with a positive impact on people’s lives and the economic development of European countries.”
Angelini Ventures CEO Paolo Di Giorgio said: “The agreement with the EIB is a key step in strengthening our international presence and global vision.
“This development path is essential to accelerating market access for talent and innovative projects, facilitating strategic partnerships in health and offering scaling opportunities for investments and partners.
“These elements are fundamental to speeding up growth and creating value in the healthcare and biotechnology sector, promoting European innovation, competitiveness and social impact on an international level.”
As a first step of the new partnership, Angelini Ventures and the EIB intend to co-invest in the second financing round of Adcytherix, a French biopharmaceutical company that develops innovative ADCs (Antibody-Drug Conjugates), with the investment agreement currently being finalized.
These targeted therapies combine antibodies with next-gen cytotoxic payloads, to enhance precision, reduce toxicity and address resistance to current treatments. The first round, which closed in October of this year, was led by Bpifrance through its Large Venture and InnoBio investment strategies, and co-led by Kurma Partners, Andera Partners and Angelini Ventures.