BioInnovation Institute (BII), a Copenhagen-based non-profit innovation hub established by
the Novo Nordisk Foundation, is supporting 11 companies through its 12-month
Venture Lab programme. Each company receives €500,000 in convertible loan
funding, along with access to laboratory infrastructure, mentorship, business
expertise, and BII’s investor network of more than 200 national and
international investors.
BII supports early-stage
life science startups and research projects by providing funding, laboratory
facilities, mentoring, and business development support aimed at helping
translate scientific research into commercial ventures.
The institute focuses on
areas including human health, biotechnology, and planetary health, with the
goal of developing technologies and solutions based on scientific discoveries
that address societal and environmental challenges.
Commenting on the
announcement, Trine Bartholdy, Chief Business Officer at BII, said:
Working across human
health, planetary health and quantum, these eleven startups are aligned with
BII’s mission to enable entrepreneurs to commercialise innovative solutions and
technologies that address current and future societal challenges.
At BII, we look forward to
supporting the startups in bringing their science to life by providing our
knowledge, network, funding, and infrastructure to help build successful
companies.
With the addition of this
new cohort, BII has supported a total of 142 companies with €145 million in
funding. These companies have collectively attracted around €1.1 billion in
external investments and financing.
The eleven companies
receiving support are:
- 2D – A spinout from the Technical University of Denmark
developing scalable graphene-based technologies aimed at supporting sustainable
industrial applications. - Vasuqi – A clean water technology company developing
light-based solutions to remove complex industrial pollutants and support water
reuse. - Cerentry – A biotechnology company developing approaches
for systemic drug delivery to the brain based on research from the University
of Copenhagen (co-financed by the Lundbeck Foundation). - Étiquette – A food technology company developing
fermentation-based processes to produce alcohol-free wine while maintaining
flavour and structure. - Combotope Therapeutics – A biotechnology company developing
tumour-selective antibodies that target cancer-specific glyco-epitopes to
improve precision in cancer therapies. - Anorit Medical – A spinout from Aarhus University
developing anautomated ventilation device designed to assist bystanders in
responding to cardiac arrest situations. - Equilibrium Diagnostics – A spinout from Aarhus University, developing non-invasive diagnostic tools to assess kidney tubular function in
chronic kidney disease. - Ibnova Therapeutics – A biotechnology company developing
vascularised engineered heart tissue patches aimed at supporting new approaches
to heart repair. - Heureka Therapeutics – A biotechnology company developing a
dual-acting molecule intended to restore liver function in patients with fatty
liver disease. - 1st Biome – A spinout from the Technical University of
Denmark developing next-generation probiotics designed to support improved
health outcomes. - QFactory – A spinout from the Niels Bohr Institute at the
University of Copenhagen, developing customised quantum systems for advanced
sensing technologies.
Recently, BII also
provided €1.3 million in follow-on funding to five portfolio startups (Synuca
Therapeutics, Gefjon Pharma, MicroMiner, DARERL, and Diasense) to support
product development, operational scaling, and progress toward market deployment
across health, climate, agriculture, and deeptech sectors.
Photo credit: BioInnovation Institute