BIO CM is a founding member of EIT Health and has initiated and established the EIT Health Investors Network.

The purpose of the EIT Health Investor’s Network is involving partners of the EIT Health consortium and the private equity community in an interactive way to develop start-ups and SMEs via financing and co-investments. Initially based on an – and used as a blueprint – investors community in North Rhine-Westphalia, where institutional and private investors (Business Angels), state development banks etc. get together for co-investments in and development of start-ups, this private equity community has developed further under the auspices of EIT Health. Since 2018, the project is coordinated by Paris based Angels Sainte on the European level with BIO CM performing the German activities of the project.

BIO Clustermanagement NRW GmbH has designed and launched the online platform startups4.eu serving as the central tool of the EIT Health Investors Network by offering access to private and venture capital for the life science start-ups and SMEs and at the same time giving investors a convenient tool to screen for innovative young life science enterprises looking for financing. After a quick registration process, start-up or SME representatives can present their company by uploading a 3-minute video introducing their product, business idea and team. For private investors, business angels, representatives of a venture capital or corporate venture fonds, the platform allows for selection of young companies according to properties of their portfolio. Thus, startups4.eu represents the first step in the matchmaking procedure:

• • • Investors are invited to select the companies they are interested in.
    • BIO CM invites the selected companies and the investors community for a personal, confidential face-to-face meeting to Düsseldorf as part of the “BIO.NRW Business Angel Circle”
    • BIO CM coordinates the follow-up and feedback of the meeting.

The BIO.NRW Business Angel Circles have been used as a blueprint for the EIT Health Investors Network and are still running successfully.

The Business Angel Circles serve as a platform that offers founders, young companies, and SMEs the opportunity to pitch ideas and business models to a hand-picked selection of investors (private, development banks, venture capital, corporate venture) and to find funding. Meanwhile, there are five to six strictly confidential investor circles each year with companies not only from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany or the EU, but any international company interested to find financing and to settle in NRW.

If you are interested to join the Business Angel Circle or want to know more, please visit startups4.eu or contact Jennifer Maßen.

In addition to the online platform startups4.eu and the BIO.NRW Business Angel Circle, the annual International Business Angel Congress is another central element of the investors network and is organized by BIO Clustermanagement NRW GmbH on behalf of BIO.NRW.

The Business Angel Congress takes place every year at the beginning of March and addresses new developments in the world of European and international life science financing which are discussed by founders, SMEs, business angels, venture capitalists, institutional investors, representatives of EIT Health, and policy makers. Furthermore, the congress offers a platform to discuss and share ideas and is a well-known meeting point for the various players in the biotech and life science scene.

The next BIO.NRW Business Angel Congress has been announced for March 5^th 2024. If you wish to stay up to date, subscribe to the BIO.NRW/ BIO CM newsletter or inform Jennifer Maßen.