Novo Seeds Provides Business Update on a Record Year - Building Exceptional Companies for Global Impact

• Over US$ 550 million raised by portfolio companies in 2021
• IO Biotech IPO on US NASDAQ
• Forendo Pharma acquired for nearly US$ 1 billion
• Muna launched with world-leading science to advance latest scientific breakthroughs in neuroscience
• Adcendo raised US$ 60 million Series A to deliver next-generation Antibody-Drug Conjugates
• Hemab raised US$ 50 million Series A to develop bispecific antibodies for the treatment of rare bleeding disorders
• Novo Seeds expanded its bioindustrials portfolio with Bactolife and 21^st Bio

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Novo Seeds, the early stage investment and company creation team of Novo Holdings, today publishes its review of 2021 – an outstanding year for venture creation and the portfolio. For more information, please see here.

Novo Seeds' commitment to early-stage financing and venture creation resulted in an unprecedented amount of capital and interest from fellow VCs across Europe and the US in 2021, with over US$ 550 million raised by Novo Seeds' portfolio companies. Focused on maximising the potential of scientific breakthroughs, Novo Seeds continued to see an increasing number of exciting investment opportunities. Muna Therapeutics, Adcendo and Hemab, three companies that Novo Seeds helped build, each raised significant Series A rounds in excess of US$ 50 million. Meanwhile, 2021 saw the NASDAQ IPO of IO Biotech, a portfolio company for which Novo Seeds was the first investor and continued to be a major investor throughout the company's development and progress.  Pharma M&A was a major theme in 2021 with portfolio company, Forendo Pharma, being acquired by Organon for US$ 954 million, yet another example of Nordic value creation.

Commenting on a highly successful year, Søren Møller, Managing Partner at Novo Seeds, said: "2021 has demonstrated the enormous potential of our industry to translate scientific breakthroughs into better treatments addressing substantial global unmet medical needs.  Novo Seeds received a never-seen-before amount of capital and interest from European and US investors, and we are proud to have co-led new investments with exceptional fellow VCs and to have worked with scientists and founders across the most renowned academic institutions in the Nordics and around the world." 

"Our ambition continues to be to nurture and incubate untapped innovation in the Nordic region and globally, with the goal of building and facilitating synergistic collaborations across the life science ecosystem, and we are uniquely positioned to do this. 2021 was truly a record year and we anticipate more exciting company creation and significant developments across our portfolio in 2022."

Novo Seeds' experience in building biotech companies, together with its financial resources, network, and group of entrepreneurs-in-residence, makes it one of the leading venture creators in Europe. The team helps build life science ventures to real inflection points, attracting international investors to significant financing rounds and supporting portfolio companies in successful exits.  

About Novo Holdings A/S

Novo Holdings A/S is a private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It is the holding company of the Novo Group, comprising Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S, and is responsible for managing the Novo Nordisk Foundation's assets.

Novo Holdings is recognized as a leading international life science investor, with a focus on creating long-term value. As a life science investor, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies and takes significant ownership positions in growth and well-established companies. Novo Holdings also manages a broad portfolio of diversified financial assets. Further information: www.novoholdings.dk.