Forbion has secured €2.3 billion across a pair of venture vehicles, handing the Dutch firm fresh dry powder at a moment when European biotech founders are sounding alarms over a widening capital gap. The raise, valued at $2.6 billion, exceeded the firm’s own target for the year and arrives two years after its last fundclose of $2.2 billion.
The fund structure
The capital splits across Forbion Growth Opportunities IV and Forbion Ventures Fund VIII, which together hold capacity for as many as 30 early-stage bets. Deployment has already begun. Sling Therapeutics and Solstice Oncology are the first named recipients. The firm now oversees €7.5 billion in assets under management, a figure that positions it as Europe’s largest dedicated life sciences venture investor.
The LP roster
Institutional backers include Dutch pension managers MN and PGGM, Germany’s KfW Capital, the Kauffman Foundation and Eli Lilly. The presence of a strategic pharmaceutical LP alongside public pension capital signals a blended risk appetite that has become standard for vintage 2024-2025 life sciences funds. Forbion did not disclose whether the Lilly commitment carries co-investment rights or pipeline access provisions.
Track record and recent exits
Since inception Forbion has backed 142 companies and counted 21 drug or product approvals among its portfolio. The exit clip has accelerated: Capstan Therapeutics, Mariana Oncology and Aiolos Bio were all acquired by large pharmas in the past year, while MapLight Therapeutics reached the public markets. BioPharma Dive data shows at least 55 announced investments since the start of 2022, a pace that makes Forbion one of the sector’s most active allocators over that span.
The European context
The close lands against a deteriorating backdrop. Last month nine European biotech board chairs published an open letter arguing that the continent treats medicine as a cost to suppress rather than an investment to cultivate. They cited a shrinking share of global clinical trials and R&D spend, with activity migrating to China on the back of state support and regulatory flexibility, while the United States continues to absorb a growing slice of venture dollars. Slootweg, Forbion’s co-founder and managing partner, framed the raise as a direct response to what he called a general shortage of capital in the market.
What to watch
The test is whether €2.3 billion can meaningfully alter the flow at a time when European rounds are routinely priced below US counterparts and follow-on reserves are thin. Forbion’s deployment speed over the next 18 months, and the proportion of capital reserved for later-stage rounds versus new entries, will indicate whether this vintage is structured to bridge the valley of death or simply to mark time.