Forbion closes €2.3bn across two funds, the largest raise in its history

Forbion, the Netherlands-based life sciences venture firm, said on 6 October 2026 that it had closed 2.3 billion euros, or $2.6 billion, across two new funds, the largest fundraise in its history ¹. The money sits in Forbion Growth Opportunities IV and Forbion Ventures Fund VIII, which together have capacity to back as many as 30 young companies ¹.

What Forbion raised and from whom

Forbion said the drive exceeded the amount it had planned to raise this year, and it has already started investing from the new funds, with Sling Therapeutics and Solstice Oncology among the recent recipients ¹. Its previous announced raise was $2.2 billion in 2024 ¹. The firm now reports 7.5 billion euros in assets under management ¹.

The backers named include the Dutch pension managers MN and PGGM, the Kauffman Foundation, Germany's KfW Capital and Eli Lilly ¹. A drugmaker sitting among the limited partners alongside pension money and a German state-backed investor gives Lilly a line of sight into a large share of European early-stage deal flow.

Forbion is the largest European venture fund that invests only in life sciences ¹. It says it has supported 142 companies since it was founded and that those companies have brought 21 drugs or other medical products to market ¹. BioPharma Dive counts at least 55 publicly announced Forbion investments since the start of 2022, which puts the firm among the most active investors in the sector over that period ¹. Several of its companies, including Capstan Therapeutics, Mariana Oncology and Aiolos Bio, have been bought by large pharmaceutical firms, and MapLight Therapeutics has listed through an IPO ¹.

What it means for the market

For European biotech founders, the fund adds a large pool of capital at a time when money is hard to find. Sander Slootweg, Forbion's co-founder and managing partner, said the raise gives the firm "significant dry powder in a market characterized by a general shortage of capital" ¹. With room for up to 30 companies, the funds can write sizeable cheques into a limited number of businesses rather than spreading thinly.

For pharma business development teams, the record of exits matters. Forbion's recent returns have come from trade sales to large drugmakers and from public listings, and the new funds extend that pipeline of assets that could later be licensed or acquired ¹.

The raise lands against a weak backdrop for the region. BioPharma Dive reports that European biotech has fallen further behind the US and China, with Europe running fewer clinical trials and taking a smaller share of global pharmaceutical R&D, while China has drawn activity through government support and regulatory flexibility and the US continues to attract a larger share of venture dollars ¹. In September, nine board chairs of prominent companies published an open letter arguing that Europe has treated medicine "as a cost to suppress rather than one of the best investments a government can make" and calling for policy changes to speed drug development and investment ¹.

Caveats

One large fund does not by itself reverse a regional funding gap. The figures on Forbion's record, from its 142 companies to its 21 products, come from the firm's own statement, and the source gives no split of the 2.3 billion euros between the growth and venture funds or any detail on target therapy areas ¹. The investments already made from the new funds are Sling Therapeutics and Solstice Oncology; further deployment across up to 30 companies is still to come ¹.