Novo Seeds

What Novo Seeds does

Novo Seeds is the seed-stage investment arm of Novo Holdings A/S, the wholly owned holding and investment company of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Operating from Copenhagen as part of Novo Holdings' broader investment platform, Novo Seeds focuses on early-stage and company creation in life sciences, mandated to invest up to USD 20 million per transaction. The team operates a proprietary deal-origination engine built around an in-house SeedLab incubator, an Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiR) network, and partnerships with the BioInnovation Institute (BII) and Deep Tech Lab – Quantum accelerator, sourcing projects predominantly from the Nordics and spinning them out into standalone biotech, medtech, and planetary-health ventures.

The underlying 'technology' is not a software product but an investment and company-creation platform: SeedLab validates experimental data to bridge academic research and therapeutic development; EiRs provide operational expertise; and portfolio companies sit within Novo Holdings' broader 180+ company life-sciences portfolio spanning Seed, Venture, Principal, Asia, Planetary Health, and Quantum Investments teams. The portfolio covers therapeutics (e.g., Hemab Therapeutics, Windward Bio, Coultreon Biopharma), medtech (e.g., Nalu Medical), digital health (e.g., HST Pathways, Clario), vaccines (LimmaTech Biologics), quantum technology (Sparrow Quantum, Phasecraft), and bioindustrial applications (Chromologics, Blue Planet).

The business model is evergreen rather than fund-cycle based: Novo Holdings generates returns for the Novo Nordisk Foundation through capital appreciation, dividends, and exits (IPOs and strategic M&A) on its life-sciences investments, supplemented by DKK 21 billion of 2025 income from Novo Group companies (Novo Nordisk 28.1% / 77.3% votes; Novonesis 25.5% / 63.4% votes). In 2025, Novo Holdings reported a record DKK 21 billion (EUR 2.7 billion) Total Income and Investment Return and a 9.2% CER return on the investment portfolio, against Total Assets under Management of DKK 694 billion (EUR 93 billion). Revenue is not generated through subscription or product fees but through long-horizon ownership stakes and engaged board participation across the full company life cycle.

Name

Novo Seeds

Legal name

Novo Holdings A/S

Website

https://novoholdings.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Novo Seeds is the seed-stage investment arm of Novo Holdings A/S (wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation), focused on company creation and early-stage investing in Nordic and global life sciences. It combines a SeedLab incubator, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and follow-on capital from the broader Novo Holdings platform to build biotech, medtech, and planetary-health startups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Seed-stage Life Science Investment

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM), Emerging Managers / Seeding Platforms (FSAHAKAI)

Keywords

• Seed-stage biotech investing
• Early-stage life science
• Venture capital biotech
• Company creation incubator
• Healthcare seed funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Hellerup

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Investment Portfolio Returns: Novo Holdings generates attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation through investments in life science companies at all stages of development, as well as managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure, and private equity assets. Total Income and Investment Return in 2025 was DKK 21 billion.
2. Novo Group Ownership Returns: As the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk (28.1% shares, 77.3% votes) and Novonesis (25.5% shares, 63.4% votes), Novo Holdings generates income from dividends and equity appreciation from its Novo Group holdings.
3. Life Science Investment Returns: Life Science Investments portfolio (52.2% of total Investment Assets) includes Seed, Venture, Growth, Asia, Planetary Health, and Principal Investments. Returns generated through capital appreciation, exits, IPOs, and dividends from portfolio companies.
4. Capital Investment Returns: Capital Investments (47.8% of Investment Assets) manages non-life science investments including equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure, and private equity, generating returns through a diversified portfolio approach.

Go-to-market motion6 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Novo Seeds identifies, builds, and invests in exceptional early-stage life science startups, with a mandate to invest up to USD 20 million per transaction. It operates an in-house SeedLab foundry to validate experimental data and accelerate drug discovery, an Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiR) program to bring operational expertise to portfolio companies, the REPAIR Impact Fund targeting antimicrobial resistance, and the Quantum Investments program building a Danish quantum technology ecosystem.

Product overview

Novo Seeds (referenced as Novo Holdings in source data) is a holding and investment company that manages the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It is not a product/technology company but rather provides investment services across multiple asset classes and strategies including Seed Investments, Venture Investments, Principal Investments, Capital Investments, Planetary Health Investments, Asia Investments, and Quantum Investments. The company invests in life science companies at all stages of development and manages a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, and infrastructure assets. No software products, SaaS offerings, or technology platforms are described in the source data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Seed Investments: Early-stage investment and company creation team, one of the leading early-stage and company creation investors in Europe since 2007.
• Venture Investments
• Principal Investments
• Capital Investments
• Planetary Health Investments
• REPAIR Impact Fund
• Quantum Investments

Products and services

• Seed Investments Program
• SeedLab Foundry
• Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiRs) Program
• REPAIR Impact Fund
• Quantum Investments Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 9.2% CER return on Investment Portfolio in 2025
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• NasdaqflagshipOthers · 1 June 2026Hemab Therapeutics completed a successful IPO on Nasdaq, raising $346.7 million on June 1, 2026. Novo Holdings backed Hemab at seed stage as sole investor and continued as significant investor through Series A, B, and C rounds, with active board participation. IPO represents a major exit for Novo Holdings.
• Eli Lilly and CompanyflagshipOthers · 26 May 2026Eli Lilly acquired Novo Holdings' portfolio company LimmaTech Biologics through a definitive agreement. Novo Holdings first invested in LimmaTech through its REPAIR Impact Fund in 2023 to accelerate its pipeline of preclinical and clinical vaccine candidates against antimicrobial resistance and sexually transmitted diseases. This exit demonstrates the value creation from Novo Holdings' anti-infective investment strategy.
• Nautic PartnersflagshipOthers · 30 January 2026Nautic Partners acquired KabaFusion from Novo Holdings in a transaction that closed in January 2026. Novo Holdings partnered with KabaFusion management in November 2022. During ownership, KabaFusion nearly doubled in size, expanding from a presence in fewer states to serving patients in 45 states through 33 infusion pharmacies and 21 ambulatory infusion suites.
• Thermo Fisher ScientificflagshipOthers · 29 October 2025Thermo Fisher Scientific agreed to acquire Clario, a Novo Holdings portfolio company, through a definitive agreement announced in October 2025. Novo Holdings first invested in Clario in 2016, supporting the company alongside Astorg, Nordic Capital, and Cinven. The platform supported approximately 70% of FDA drug approvals over the past decade.
• Boston ScientificflagshipOthers · 17 October 2025Boston Scientific acquired Nalu Medical, a Novo Holdings portfolio company, through a definitive agreement announced October 2025. Novo Holdings led Nalu's Series E financing in January 2024. Boston Scientific had been a strategic investor in Nalu Medical since 2017. The transaction includes an upfront cash payment of approximately $533 million.
• Novo Nordisk Foundation Quantum Computing Programme (NQCP)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024The Novo Nordisk Foundation established the NQCP as part of a broader quantum technology ecosystem in Denmark. Novo Holdings' Quantum Investments strategy builds on this momentum, aiming to establish a global innovation hub for quantum technology with applications in life sciences.
• The Quantum FoundryflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024A limited liability company fully owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation developing quantum materials and quantum chips as well as associated fabrication tools. Part of the Danish quantum ecosystem that Novo Holdings Quantum Investments anchors its strategy around.
• Deep Tech Lab – Quantum (BioInnovation Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024Operated by BioInnovation Institute (BII), Denmark's official NATO DIANA accelerator site. Partnered with Niels Bohr Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Aarhus University, and Danish National Metrology Institute. Novo Holdings leverages this ecosystem for quantum technology deal sourcing and startup support.

Scale indicators27 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Atlas Venture: Atlas Venture is a leading early-stage biotech venture firm with an in-house company creation model (Atlas Xenon). Highly comparable to Novo Seeds' SeedLab/EiR approach in therapeutic biotech, deploying seed capital into newly-formed companies built around academic science.
• ARCH Venture Partners: ARCH is one of the largest US-based early-stage biotech VCs with a long-term, founder-friendly capital base and significant follow-on capacity. Directly comparable to Novo Seeds' evergreen-style model and science-driven seed investing, though with deeper US roots.
• Flagship Pioneering: Flagship operates an in-house company creation platform (originating companies like Moderna) and is the most direct analogue to Novo Seeds' SeedLab foundry approach. Both create and incubate biotech companies de novo from proprietary science, then fund them as seed investors.
• Sofinnova Partners: European life science specialist VC with strong seed and early-stage activity in biotech and medtech. Comparable to Novo Seeds in geographic focus (Europe-anchored), sector specialization, and active engagement with founders, though smaller AUM.
• Forbion: European life sciences VC investing from seed through growth in biotech, with active company creation capabilities. Comparable to Novo Seeds as a European-anchored life science investor covering multiple stages, though Forbion operates on a traditional fund structure.
• 5AM Ventures: US early-stage biotech VC focused on company creation and seed investing in therapeutic platforms. Closely comparable to Novo Seeds' specialist seed-stage biotech approach, with a similar emphasis on building companies around novel science.
• Abingworth: Transatlantic life sciences VC with seed through growth capabilities and significant company creation experience. Comparable to Novo Seeds in life science focus and multi-stage deployment, though with a traditional fund structure rather than evergreen capital.
• Medicxi: European biotech-focused VC (originated from Index Ventures life science franchise) operating a company creation model. Directly comparable to Novo Seeds as a European specialist with seed-stage focus and founder-led company building in biotech.
• OrbiMed: One of the largest healthcare-dedicated investment firms globally, investing across all stages of biotech, medtech, and healthcare services. Comparable to Novo Holdings' broader life science investment platform, though Novo Seeds is more seed-focused while OrbiMed spans seed to late-stage private and public equities.

Emerging players

• BioInnovation Institute (BII): Denmark-based life science incubator founded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Operates as an adjacent ecosystem player providing validation programs and accelerators that Novo Seeds frequently co-invests in or sources from, making it a closely-related enabling partner rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/novoholdings
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/novo-a-s/?viewAsMember=true

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments5 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Novo Seeds