Novalis Biotechnology Incubation

What Novalis Biotechnology Incubation does

Novalis Biotechnology Incubation is a Belgium-domiciled, privately held early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2018 and headquartered in Ghent. It invests in life sciences enabling technologies—bioinformatics, genomics, diagnostics, digital health, research and biomanufacturing tools—at the (pre-)seed to Series A stages, deploying equity alongside professional and academic network support and business-strategy shaping for portfolio companies. The firm operates two vehicles: Fund I (€4 million deployed across eight companies, focused on Benelux and the US) and the Acceleration Fund (€25 million closed in June 2021). It runs a horizontal thesis rather than a sector platform, sourcing deals primarily through academic channels such as Ghent University and EPFL, and has a portfolio of 20+ companies spanning Alithea Genomics (RNA-seq), Trince (cell engineering), Altavo (AI voice rehabilitation), BioLizard (bioinformatics), Rarity Bioscience (rare nucleic acid detection), Enzyre (coagulation diagnostics), C-mo Medical Solutions (cough monitoring), Carroucell (microcarriers), Grapheal (graphene biosensors), RheumaFinder (rheumatology imaging AI), and Clouds of Care (CNS electrophysiology). As a limited partnership under Belgian law, the firm does not sell a product; it earns returns through portfolio exits (realized via Doc.ai to Sharecare in January 2021, Cergentis to Solvias, and OHMX.bio to Anacura) and conventional fund economics, including management fees on committed capital and carried interest on realized gains. Its GTM motion is direct enterprise-style deal-making with founders and co-investors rather than marketing or sales, and the firm relies on its small five-person team plus a scientific and supervisory board (including ETH Zurich board president Michael Hengartner) to source and support investments.

Name

Novalis Biotechnology Incubation

Legal name

Novalis

Website

https://noval.is

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Novalis Biotechnology Incubation is a Ghent-based, privately held early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2018 that invests from pre-seed to Series A in life sciences enabling technologies—bioinformatics, genomics, diagnostics, digital health, and biomanufacturing tools—through Fund I (€4M) and a €25M Acceleration Fund, with a portfolio of 20+ companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-stage Venture Capital (Life Sciences)

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA), Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Life sciences funding
• Early-stage incubation
• Biotech seed investment
• Enabling technology platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Gent

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Fund Management: Novalis generates returns through successful portfolio company exits, including acquisitions and IPOs. They manage multiple funds (Fund I €4M, Acceleration Fund €25M) investing in early-stage life sciences companies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Novalis Biotechnology Incubation is an early-stage venture capital investor that provides funding, professional and academic connections, and business strategy shaping to life sciences start-ups from pre-seed through Series A. The firm manages two investment funds (Fund I at €4 million and the Acceleration Fund at €25 million) focused on enabling technologies including genomics, bioinformatics, diagnostics, digital health, and manufacturing tools.

Product overview

Novalis Biotech is an early-stage venture capital investor in life sciences that does not operate a unified product platform but rather manages two investment funds (Fund I at €4 million and the Acceleration Fund at €25 million) targeting enabling technologies in healthcare. The firm provides funding, professional/academic connections, and business strategy support to portfolio companies from incorporation through Series A stage. Their investment focus spans innovative research and manufacturing tools, bioinformatics, genomics, diagnostics, and digital health.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Novalis Biotech Fund I
• Novalis Biotech Acceleration Fund
• Novalis Investment and Incubation Services

Named customers12 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Beckman Coulter Life SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2025Beckman Coulter Life Sciences partnered with Rarity Bioscience AB (Novalis portfolio company) to bring molecular research to flow cytometry.
• IMA LifeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 November 2024RheaVita announced strategic partnership with IMA Life (part of IMA Group) to drive technological development and commercial growth in freeze-drying solutions.
• Etablissement Français du Sang (EFS)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2022Carroucell has partnership with EFS which enabled validation of its microcarriers and facilitated first commercial orders.
• RheaVitacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 June 2021Co-led EUR 2.5M Series A financing for RheaVita alongside PMV. Kjell Mortier from Novalis joined RheaVita's Board of Directors.
• Takeda Pharmaceutical CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2021Takeda formed strategic partnership with Enzyre (Novalis portfolio company), investing in Enzyre and joining its supervisory board to develop diagnostic assays for congenital bleeding disorders.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• HealthCap: Nordic specialist life sciences VC investing from seed to later-stage across therapeutics, medtech, and industrial biotech. Comparable in stage focus and sector specialisation.
• Capricorn Partners: Belgian independent VC firm managing multiple sector-specific funds including Capricorn Health-tech Fund, actively co-investing with Novalis-style funds in life sciences spin-offs from Ghent and Leuven.
• Forbion: Leading European life sciences VC with multiple billion-euro funds, focused on biotech, medtech, and pharmaceutical platforms. Competes head-to-head for later Series A rounds on portfolio companies emerging from same Benelux academic cluster.
• PMV (Participatie Maatschappij Vlaanderen): Flemish regional investment company that is both an LP in Novalis Acceleration Fund and a co-investor in portfolio companies like RheaVita. Direct strategic overlap in life sciences funding in Flanders.
• BioGeneration Ventures (BGV): Dutch VC firm focused on early-stage life sciences companies, particularly spin-offs from Dutch and Benelux universities. Closely comparable in stage focus, sector concentration, and academic sourcing strategy.
• V-Bio Ventures: Belgian early-stage VC firm dedicated to biotechnology and agricultural biotech, with similar Ghent-area academic ties and pre-seed/seed orientation as Novalis.
• Life Sciences Partners (LSP): Amsterdam-based specialist life sciences VC firm investing across European biotech and medtech from early to late stage. Direct competitor for European life sciences deals and limited partner profile.
• Inkef Capital: Dutch early- and growth-stage VC with strong life sciences exposure, backed by APG. Competes for European life sciences deals with a similar academic-spinout thesis.
• qbic Fund: Belgian inter-university venture fund supporting academic spin-offs from Belgian universities. Direct co-investor with Novalis (e.g., Trince) and overlapping academic sourcing channels.

Broad incumbents

• Gimv: Large Belgian-listed investment company with a dedicated Health & Care platform that invests across life sciences stages. Competes for the same Belgian life sciences deal flow but with broader sector mandate and larger fund sizes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/novalis-biotech

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments16 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Novalis Biotechnology Incubation