NLC

What NLC does

NLC Health Ventures is a European healthtech venture builder founded in 2015 and headquartered in Amsterdam that systematically identifies, builds, and scales transformative health innovations. The company screens over 1,500 technologies annually and builds 20-25 ventures per year, with a portfolio of 110+ ventures built since inception spanning cardiovascular, orthopedics & spine, therapeutics, and general healthtech sectors. Two million+ patients have been impacted by NLC portfolio companies, and €190M+ has been raised by those ventures cumulatively. The company serves three primary segments: healthcare innovators and inventors seeking commercialization pathways, institutional and private investors seeking diversified early-stage healthtech exposure, and healthcare corporations seeking innovation pipelines.

NLC operates four captive funds with €40M+ under management — Momentum Fund (€11M, 2020), Stepping Stone Fund (€4M, 2021), and the NLC Health Impact Fund (€36.5M, closed 2026) — generating revenue through management fees, carried interest, and co-investment structuring. Direct co-investments alongside NLC start at €25K, with the NLC investment threshold at €1,000, opening retail participation. All funds are SFDR Article 9 compliant and the entity is a certified B Corporation, supporting UN Sustainable Development Goals 3, 9, and 17. GTM is sales-led, combining direct institutional outreach with a website investor portal and channels including LinkedIn, content marketing, industry conferences (e.g., LSI Europe), and PR around venture launches.

The venture building platform combines 40+ in-house professionals with 1,000+ global experts across 26 nationalities, supported by specialized Venture Partners by clinical domain and a Supervisory Board including Rob ten Hoedt (ex-Medtronic EMEA President). Strategic partners include Verily (Exolvo biotech co-development), HMG (Global Open Challenge), VGZ (€6M strategic investment June 2024 + Dutch market access expertise), Plug and Play and Rowan University (US Strategic Innovation Centers via NJEDA), and an ecosystem spanning Mayo Clinic, Oxford, Imperial King's College, Charité, NHS, Philips, Medtronic, GE, and Stryker. NLC was named #1 Most Active Early Stage Investor in Healthcare in Europe by Financial Times' Sifted in both 2023 and 2024.

Name

NLC

Legal name

NLC Health Ventures B.V.

Website

https://nlc.health

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NLC Health Ventures is a European healthtech venture builder that finds, builds, and scales healthcare innovations. Founded in 2015 in Amsterdam, the company operates four captive funds with €40M+ AUM and has built 110+ ventures across medtech, biotech, and digital health, serving inventors, institutional investors, and corporate partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthtech Venture Building

NAICS

Other Financial Vehicles (52599)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Venture Studios & Incubators (Build/launch ventures) (FSANAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Captive CVC Fund (Dedicated corporate fund structure) (FSANAHAB), Corporate Innovation & Technology Scouting Units (with investment mandate) (FSANAHAI)

Keywords

• Healthtech venture building
• Medical device innovation
• Biotech startup incubation
• Healthcare early-stage investment
• Venture studio services

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: Management fees and carried interest from managing captive funds including the Health Impact Fund (€36.5M), Stepping Stone Fund (40 portfolio companies), and Momentum Fund (11 portfolio companies)
2. Direct Venture Investment: Single-company investments starting at €25K alongside NLC in portfolio ventures

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NLC Health Ventures is a European healthtech venture builder that identifies, builds, and scales transformative healthcare innovations from scientific discoveries. The company vets over 1,500 health technologies annually, builds 20-25 ventures each year, and provides comprehensive support including regulatory guidance, product development, and clinical trial setup to portfolio companies. NLC also operates captive investment funds (Health Impact Fund, Stepping Stone Fund, Momentum Fund) that deploy capital into the ventures it builds.

Product overview

NLC Health Ventures is a healthtech venture builder and early-stage investor operating a multi-faceted platform. The core offering includes venture building services that identify, build, and scale transformative health innovations across medtech, biotech, and digital health sectors. NLC manages multiple investment funds including the NLC Health Impact Fund (€36.5M), Stepping Stone Fund, and Momentum Fund. The portfolio includes 70+ active ventures spanning cardiovascular care (Revadix, Nilocas, StarTric), rare disease diagnosis (Genorare), orthopaedic surgery (Amotio), drug delivery (Exolvo), cancer screening (Aerion Bioscience), and various other therapeutic areas. NLC provides regulatory guidance, product development assistance, and clinical trial setup support to portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NLC Health Impact Fund: NLC's latest and largest fund with total size of €36.5M, investing in a highly diversified portfolio of 50+ groundbreaking NLC ventures.
• Stepping Stone Fund
• Momentum Fund
• Health Impact Fund

Products and services

• NLC Health Impact Fund NLC's largest captive investment fund with total size €36.5M, investing in a diversified portfolio of 50+ NLC ventures. SFDR9 compliant.
• Stepping Stone Fund NLC captive fund established to invest in 40 promising new start-ups built and supported by NLC at Pre-Seed to Series A stage. SFDR9 compliant.
• Momentum Fund NLC captive fund established in 2020 to supply seed capital to 11 transformative NLC ventures at Pre-Seed to Seed stage. SFDR9 compliant.
• Venture Building Services NLC's core service identifying, building, and scaling transformative health innovations. Vetting over 1,500 innovations annually and building 20-25 ventures per year, providing regulatory guidance, product development assistance, and clinical trial setup.
• Revadix Biotech venture developing AM-001 therapy targeting the EPAC-1 pathway for atrial fibrillation treatment, with efficacy shown in preclinical animal studies.
• Genorare Platform AI-powered end-to-end platform for rare disease diagnosis using Large Language Models, predictive analytics, and Fully Homomorphic Encryption. Analyzes genomic, EHR, and lab data while ensuring GDPR/HIPAA compliance.
• Amotio Medical technology for orthopaedic revision surgery combining 3D printing, high-speed cutting tools, and digital surgical planning for patient-specific cement removal solutions.
• Exolvo Biosciences Early-stage biotech company developing oral drug delivery technology for biologic drugs. Features flexible capsule and modular design allowing adaptation to large molecular structures, eliminating need for needle injections.
• Angiogenesis Analytics Transforming prostate cancer diagnosis by integrating AI with advanced ultrasound technology using PCAVision technology.
• PEP Health Machine-learning platform providing real-time actionable insights for healthcare organizations, regulators, and insurers to understand and improve patient experiences.
• Rheumasense Real-time rheumatoid arthritis insights combining LC-MS biomarker testing with advanced machine learning for objective, personalized treatment adjustments with at-home blood collection.
• Implant Preservation Devices (IPD) Handheld heating device for treatment of prosthetic joint infections using induction technology to eliminate bacteria during surgery.
• Concord Neonatal Medical device allowing babies to receive care with umbilical cord intact until breathing independently, preventing birth complications and maximizing benefits of placental blood.
• Persuasive Blood test leveraging extracellular vesicle protein signature to distinguish stable angina patients from those with non-cardiac chest pain for early heart disease detection.
• Aerion Bioscience Non-invasive blood test for early lung cancer detection with high sensitivity and specificity using a multi-protein panel capable of identifying stage I cancer.
• Midland Pharmaceuticals Developing MLP-1236, a first-in-class dual inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 9 and MMP 12 for treatment of spinal cord injury and ischemic stroke.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2M+ patients impacted by portfolio companies
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• HMGcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNLC Health Ventures and HMG announced partnership to accelerate global health tech innovations through the Global Open Challenge initiative.
• VerilycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNLC collaborated with Verily, a precision health technology company, to launch Exolvo Biosciences, a biotech company delivering next-generation biologic drug delivery solutions. Exolvo technology was incubated within Verily and is being spun out under NLC's venture building approach.
• Plug and PlaycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPlug and Play manages both Strategic Innovation Centers (NJ AIM for medtech and New Baby New Jersey for maternal health) funded by NJEDA, with Cooper University Health Care as commercial affiliate.
• DemconminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner in Haermonics Series A round, bringing product development expertise as a technology developer and innovative product supplier.
• CUIPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNLC Health Ventures and CUIP signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring cutting-edge innovations to life.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Apollo Therapeutics: UK-based venture builder that partners with universities and pharma to translate early-stage research into therapeutics companies; closest direct comparable to NLC's venture-building model in European healthtech/life sciences.
• IndieBio (SOSV): Biotech accelerator/venture builder operating globally, providing lab facilities, capital, and operating support to early-stage health and biotech founders — analogous to NLC's structured 20-25 ventures/year creation model.
• Deep Science Ventures: UK-based venture studio building companies from first-principles science across health, climate, and computation — directly comparable as a science-led venture builder with a focus on creating rather than just funding companies.
• BioMotiv: Therapeutic venture builder/accelerator that partners with academic and industry sources to advance early-stage assets; overlaps with NLC's Therapeutics cluster and biotech-oriented ventures.
• Plug and Play: Global venture builder and accelerator that NLC has actively partnered with on NJEDA Strategic Innovation Centers for medtech and maternal health; directly comparable as a multi-vertical venture platform with healthtech focus.

Broad incumbents

• Leaps by Bayer: Bayer's corporate venture arm investing in healthtech and biotech breakthroughs; broader in scope but comparable in mission to identify and back transformative health innovations across stages.
• M Ventures: Merck's corporate venture capital arm investing across healthcare, life sciences, and technology; comparable as an established corporate-backed healthtech investor with operating resources to support portfolio companies.
• OrbiMed: Large healthcare-dedicated investment firm across stages (venture through public); comparable as a capital provider to European healthtech but operates as a traditional fund manager rather than a venture builder.

Emerging players

• Antler: Global venture builder backing founders at idea stage across sectors including healthtech; comparable as a venture-creation platform though broader in scope and less healthtech-specialized than NLC.
• Apollo Health Ventures: European early-stage venture fund focused on longevity and healthspan; partially overlaps with NLC's Therapeutics cluster and represents the broader European healthtech VC landscape NLC competes with.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nlchealthventures
• Xx.com/nlc_healthtech
• Facebookfacebook.com/nlcventures

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments44 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NLC