If you are an entrepreneur and are seeking investment funding for a life science innovation, then congratulations - you’ve come to the right place. Maybe you’d like to learn more about us or about the process first? If so, you can find out more in our F.A.Q.s below:
Frequently Asked Questions
We are looking to invest in cutting-edge innovations that will transform the treatment of unmet medical needs. Our preference is to invest in Series A or B stage companies in the medical device and therapeutics sectors. We appreciate that life science innovations come in all shapes and sizes, so we have flexibility on this model. Ideally, in medical device opportunities, we like companies to have prototype devices or some first-in-human clinical evidence. For biotech or other therapeutics, we like to see pre-clinical assets with convincing evidence in well-defined animal models of disease.
No, it's never too early. Our sweet-spot for investment is Series A and B, but we are always keen to engage with entrepreneurs at an early stage so that we can get to know you, your team and your idea.
Throughout the investment journey we typically invest €5-10m in each of our investees. We might invest €3-5m in the initial investment round, but will invest more or less than this for the right project. Our funds would be invested along with investments by a syndicate of other investors that we would lead or co-lead, so the initial joint-investment would be a multiple of that figure and, of course, we also hold adequate reserves to support the growth of our investee companies over time. However, don't be put off by the typical funding amounts mentioned here because we also consider smaller investment amounts for the right opportunity.
Seroba is a European fund that invests predominantly in Western Europe, as well as North America. We are head-quartered in Dublin, Ireland. We are keen to review global investment opportunities and we have hands-on experience of assisting North American teams to set up a base in Europe to manage the investee company’s clinical trials or early commercial activities.
It is always great to get a referral from someone within our network. This common connection might be a syndicate partner of ours, an industry advisor, a KOL (Key Opinion Leader) that we have worked with before, an entrepreneur or a service provider that we have engaged with in the past. Sometimes however, this is not possible. Please feel free to phone our main office and we will advise who is best suited to review your opportunity, or view our Team Page and choose one Team Member and send your initial email to that person. Whether you come to us recommended, introduced, or just off your own bat, we’ll be pleased to hear from you and will be eager to hear what you have to say.
Initially, just a short one-paragraph email telling us some very basic details about the innovation.
Tell us your name and where you are based, your contact details, the name of the innovation, what un-met medical and commercial need it addresses and a very brief description of what it does, then let us know what investment amount you are seeking and for what purpose, for example ‘We are currently seeking €20m for phase II clinical trials.’ Attaching a short non-confidential overview can also be useful.
In order to assist with our review of your opportunity we would ask next that you send us an executive summary and a slide deck which contains the ‘nuts and bolts’ of your business plan. This information will help us decide if your opportunity has the potential to be a match. If it’s not a fit for us, then we may be able to direct you toward another funding source that may be more suited to your innovation’s profile.
If your additional material leads us to think there may be a match between the expertise and funding that Seroba can provide and your company/innovation, we will then typically invite you in to present to us. That helps us get to know your team in person and learn more about your innovation. If that goes well, we will then outline our Due Diligence process to you in more detail.
Your presentation should be between 20 and 30 slides. It should typically include the following:
- A description of your product
- Details and statistics covering the un-met clinical need for which you have found a solution
- Analysis of the market and the competition
- Product development, regulatory and reimbursement Plans
- Your funding requirement and planned use of funds
- Your team and existing investors
- Plans for investment return to investors
We are always happy to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement before you share any confidential information with us. We have a standard Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) that you can review here. We prefer not to sign other NDA formats, as that can slow the start of the review process whilst we send the alternative NDA language to a lawyer for consideration. We prefer to get started straight away, based on signing the same tried and trusted NDA that we use with our investee companies and advisors.
We see our relationship with investee companies as a partnership. If we decide to back your team, we have concluded that Seroba can add value to your company and we are keen to roll up our sleeves and assist you on your journey. Our team has extensive industry and operational experience and a global network of expert contacts. We are keen to share that expertise with you to help you to succeed. With each of our investments we take a board seat and help to shape the strategy of the company along with our syndicate partners and the executive team.
Like to read about it from the perspective of our Portfolio Companies? Then, take a look at the 'Meet the Entrepreneur' section inside our Forum.
We are happy to hear from you by email or over the phone and always happy to answer your questions. Don’t hesitate to contact one of our investment team by email here or simply call us on +3531 6334028 if you prefer. Let’s talk.