Kurma Partners Closes €215M Biofund IV, Crosses €1B AUM on Back of Four Big Pharma Exits
TL;DR
Kurma Partners, the Paris-based healthcare venture capital firm, has closed Biofund IV at €215 million — its largest fund to date and a 35% step-up from the €160 million Biofund III. Backed by cornerstone LPs including Australian pharma giant CSL, the European Investment Fund, and Bpifrance under the France 2030 initiative, the close pushes Kurma's total AUM past €1 billion for the first time. The firm has already deployed into 11 companies and is targeting around 20 investments in total, continuing a model that both co-creates companies alongside academic institutions and backs existing early-stage biotechs developing treatments for severe or incurable diseases.
Key Takeaways
Biofund IV is a proof-of-concept close, not just a fundraise. Kurma didn't raise €215 million on ambition alone — it raised it on four consecutive Big Pharma exits from Biofund III: Amolyt Pharma to AstraZeneca, Emergence Therapeutics to Eli Lilly, Corlieve Therapeutics to uniQure, and ImCheck Therapeutics to Ipsen in a deal worth €350 million upfront with milestone potential of up to €1 billion. That kind of exit cadence — four trade sales to four different global pharma acquirers — is exceptionally rare in European biotech VC and explains why LPs signed up for a 35% larger vehicle.
Crossing €1 billion AUM is a structural inflection point for Kurma. Kurma launched Biofund I at €51 million in 2009. Fifteen years later it manages a diversified platform spanning early-stage therapeutics, growth-stage crossover (Kurma Growth Opportunities, €167M), and diagnostics (Kurma Diagnostics II, €83M). The €1B milestone is not just symbolic — it changes the firm's ability to lead rounds, retain ownership through follow-on, and attract the calibre of scientific talent and corporate LPs that a sub-€500M AUM firm cannot.
The LP base signals deep strategic credibility. CSL committing as a cornerstone LP is notable. The Australian plasma and vaccine giant doesn't do this for financial returns alone — it does it for pipeline optionality. Having a pharma LP of that stature alongside EIF and Bpifrance means Kurma's portfolio companies gain privileged access to corporate development conversations long before a formal M&A process begins. That's a real competitive edge for founders.
Kurma's company-creation model differentiates it from most European biotech VCs. Up to 50% of Biofund IV investments will be in companies established by Kurma's management company or its affiliate Argobio. This isn't just co-investment or sourcing from spinouts — it's genuine company building from academic research, which gives the firm proprietary access to discovery-stage science before it enters competitive financing rounds. The closest European comparables are Flagship Pioneering's model in the US and, to a lesser extent, Jeito Capital in France.
Fund Overview
Fund Name: Kurma Biofund IV
Fund Size: €215 million (final close)
Stage: Early-stage venture / company creation
Check Size: Not disclosed; targeting approximately 20 total investments implies average initial tickets of €8–12M with reserves
Geography: Europe (primary), with select non-European opportunities
Focus: Therapeutic biotechnology addressing high unmet medical need — severe or incurable diseases; 80% therapeutics-focused
Key LPs: Eurazeo (anchor/parent group), CSL (Australia), European Investment Fund, Bpifrance (direct and via France 2030 Biotech Health Acceleration Fund), European institutional investors, family offices
Why This Fund Matters
European biotech VC has a well-documented structural problem: too much capital at Series A, not enough at founding, and a chronic shortage of firms willing to do the hard work of building companies from academic IP rather than simply backing founders who've already done that work themselves. Kurma sits at one of the few firms on the continent that genuinely operates in this white space, embedding itself with research institutes and university spin-out ecosystems to originate proprietary deal flow before it ever reaches an investment committee.
The €215 million close of Biofund IV is a direct consequence of Biofund III's exit track record. Four trade sales to blue-chip pharma acquirers — AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, uniQure, and Ipsen — in a single fund cycle is the kind of outcome that removes LP skepticism about European early-stage biotech. The Ipsen/ImCheck deal alone, worth €350 million upfront with potential milestones of up to €1 billion, demonstrates that Kurma-built companies can reach deal sizes that put them in the same conversation as the best US biotech VC portfolios.
Context matters here too. Biofund IV closed just under its €250 million target, which some will read as a miss. The more accurate read is that Kurma chose quality of LP over quantity of capital — anchoring with CSL and EIF rather than filling out with less strategic capital. For a firm whose value proposition depends partly on corporate development relationships, an informed pharma LP is worth far more than an additional €35 million from a generalist fund-of-funds. That's a disciplined decision that reflects management maturity.
Among European biotech VCs, Kurma now sits alongside Sofinnova Partners (which closed its €650 million Capital XI in 2025), Forbion, and Versant Ventures Europe as one of the continent's most significant dedicated healthcare investors. The €1 billion AUM milestone positions it to compete for co-lead roles on larger rounds that were previously the exclusive domain of those larger funds.
The Team
Kurma Partners was founded in 2009 by Jacques Chatain, who serves as Directeur Général and remains a central figure in the firm's scientific and investment strategy. The current leadership includes Managing Partner Jim Cowart, who oversees portfolio management and fund strategy, and a 28-person team comprising 12 Partners and 3 Venture Partners spread across Paris and German offices. Recent promotions include Hadrien Bouchez elevated to Partner, and Daniel Parera joining as Principal with a background spanning biotech and pharmaceutical investment. The team's scientific depth — most partners hold advanced degrees in life sciences — is central to the firm's ability to evaluate and co-create companies at the discovery stage, where most financial-only investors cannot compete.
Early Portfolio
Biofund IV has already made 11 investments: SciRhom, Memo Therapeutics, Avidicure, Elkedonia, Nuevocor, Evla Bio, Adcytherix, Evidence Bio, Laigo Bio, Alveus, and Givax. The portfolio spans immunology, gene therapy, oncology, and rare disease — consistent with Kurma's thesis of targeting severe conditions with high unmet medical need. Nine additional investments are planned to complete the fund's deployment over the next several years.
What This Means for Founders
If you are a scientific founder or a researcher at a European university or institute working on a therapeutic approach for a severe or rare disease, Kurma should be on your shortlist. The firm's company-creation model means they can engage before you've even formed a legal entity — which for early-stage biotech founders is often the most capital-efficient and strategically useful point of entry. Having CSL and Bpifrance in the LP base also creates natural pathways to non-dilutive support and corporate partnership conversations that pure-financial VCs cannot facilitate.
For founders already operating at the seed or Series A stage in therapeutics, Kurma competes on scientific credibility and European network rather than check size alone. They invest alongside academic partners and bring hands-on operational involvement — meaning you're not just getting capital, you're getting a partner who has built and sold biotech companies to AstraZeneca and Lilly. That hands-on value-add matters enormously in therapeutic development, where regulatory strategy, clinical design, and pharma BD relationships can make or break a program.
Fund Momentum Take
Kurma Biofund IV is exactly the kind of close the European biotech ecosystem needs more of. It's not the largest fund on the continent — Sofinnova and Jeito have raised bigger — but it may be the most strategically coherent. A firm that builds its own companies from academic science, delivers four Big Pharma exits in a single fund cycle, crosses €1 billion AUM, and anchors its LP base with a strategic pharma investor has done something most European VCs claim to do but few actually execute.
The risk worth watching is concentration. Biofund IV is 80% therapeutics-focused in a segment where binary clinical outcomes are the norm. One or two late-stage failures in the next 24 months could dent the narrative, and the fund's company-creation model — while powerful — is inherently slower than backing already-formed companies. The timeline from academic IP to Big Pharma exit is long. LPs committing to this fund are committing to a 10-12 year journey, not a 2026 vintage story with a 2031 harvest.
That said, the track record earns the benefit of the doubt. With €1 billion under management, a disciplined LP base, and a portfolio already seeded across 11 companies, Kurma has the infrastructure to generate another cohort of Big Pharma exits. Our bet is that at least two or three Biofund IV names will be acquired by 2030 — and that the ImCheck/Ipsen outcome won't look like an outlier for long.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kurma Partners Biofund IV?
Biofund IV is the fourth flagship therapeutic venture fund from Paris-based Kurma Partners. It closed at €215 million in April 2026, targeting approximately 20 early-stage biotech investments primarily in Europe, with a focus on diseases with high unmet medical need.
Who are the key investors (LPs) in Biofund IV?
The cornerstone investors are Eurazeo (Kurma's parent group), CSL (the Australian pharmaceutical and plasma company), the European Investment Fund, and Bpifrance investing both directly and through the France 2030 Biotech Health Acceleration Fund. The remaining LP base consists of European institutional investors and family offices.
How does Kurma Partners build companies differently from other VCs?
Kurma operates a hybrid model: up to 50% of its capital goes into companies it co-creates with academic research institutions through its affiliate Argobio, while the remainder backs existing early-stage biotechs. This company-creation approach gives the firm proprietary access to discovery-stage science before it enters competitive financing markets.
What exits did Biofund III produce?
Biofund III generated four trade sales: Amolyt Pharma to AstraZeneca, Emergence Therapeutics to Eli Lilly, Corlieve Therapeutics to uniQure, and ImCheck Therapeutics to Ipsen for €350 million upfront with potential milestones of up to €1 billion.
How does Biofund IV compare to other European biotech VC funds?
At €215 million, Biofund IV is among Europe's larger dedicated early-stage therapeutic funds. Peers include Sofinnova Partners (€650M Capital XI, 2025), Forbion, Versant Ventures Europe, and fellow Paris-based Jeito Capital (€1B Jeito II, early 2026). Kurma distinguishes itself through its company-creation model and consistent Big Pharma exit track record.
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