BHV Partners, venture builder specialising in health, opens a round of €2.5 million to accelerate its growth

• Albert G. Zamora: “Investing in BHV reduces risk, as we have a team with more than 25 years of experience in the health sector and we are a start-up factory”.
  
  
• The increase in capital is aimed at family offices and corporate venture funds that want to invest in disruptive start-ups to respond to medical needs that are not currently covered.
  
  
• BHV expects to create a portfolio of 15 of its own start-ups by 2026.

Barcelona (Spain), 29 June, 2023 – BHV Partners has opened a seed funding round of €2.5 million to accelerate its growth as a venture builder specialising in creating start-ups in the health sector. The round is aimed at family offices and companies with corporate venture funds, as well as existing partners.

BHV is a project driven by four executives, serial entrepreneurs and scientists with vast experience in the sector: Marta Príncep, Albert G. Zamora, Joan Bigorra and Joaquim Trias (Silicon Valley).

BHV creates start-ups for technology transfer from universities, hospitals and research centres to turn it into products or services that respond to medical needs not yet covered. To do this, the BHV team selects disruptive projects, joins in the initial phase and is involved throughout the entire life cycle of the start-ups, both in terms of specialised strategic knowledge and in operational management, helping them grow and open them up to rounds of seed, Series A and Series B investment. 

Since its creation in 2019 in Barcelona, BHV has created a portfolio of 6 start-ups valued at a total of €20 million. The venture builder has the support of over 70 partners and senior international experts, mainly in Spain, the USA, Denmark, Israel and Switzerland. The team’s knowledge and network of experts aids the development of business projects in a specific, highly regulated sector such as biomedicine. 

“We started BHV four years ago. We have overcome the uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic and have validated our business model. We can say that BHV is a consolidated venture builder that is ready to scale up, but to do so we need more financial muscle”, explains Dr Marta Príncep, CEO and co-founder of BHV.

Why invest in BHV? 

BHV’s value in the health ecosystem is its long-term commitment to creating and consolidating start-ups, which is a critical factor in the biomedical sector as it complements the role of accelerators, incubators and traditional venture capital.  

“Family offices and corporate venture funds that choose BHV will reduce the risk of their investment, as we have a team with more than 25 years of experience in the health sector and in creating start-ups, covering the entire life cycle up to the point of sale. They will also be investing in a start-up factory”, explains Albert G. Zamora, serial entrepreneur, co-founder and chairman of the board of BHV Partners, who has raised over €20 million in funding throughout his career and its investee start-ups more than €100 million.

Some of the most significant milestones reached include the start-up MATCH Biosystems, created alongside the venture capital firm UPV-Clave Tech Transfer in Valencia, Spain, which has increased its value to €2.5 million in one year. On the other hand, 2023 saw the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Elisava, School of Design and Engineering of The University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, with BHV being responsible for creating its start-ups in the life sciences sector.

BHV’s aim is to generate a portfolio of 15 of its own start-ups from different subsectors (therapies, medical devices, digital health, IVD and nutrition) by 2026 and to list on the regulated market, in which it will incorporate 10 more start-ups by 2030. The business models are primarily B2B, but B2C cannot be ruled out.

About BHV Partners

BHV Partners is the first venture builder specialising in health in Southern Europe. It was founded in 2019 by executives, serial entrepreneurs and scientists in the sector (Marta Príncep, Albert G. Zamora, Joan Bigorra and Joaquim Trias). The primary business line is that of a venture builder (portfolio made up of 6 start-ups and 2 in the initial phase). However, it also offers complementary consultancy to technology transfer and innovation institutions, start-ups and the biomedical industry. It has an international network of 70 partners and senior experts who advise and mentor the projects. BHV has offices in Barcelona, San Francisco and San Sebastián, and until now, has raised funds of over €1.2 million (including a participation loan from the Spanish National Innovation Company).