latest news
We’ll show you what’s new with us here, offer you interesting media outlets that relate to our work, and you can find our press releases here.
CasInvent Pharma raises from i&i Biotech Fund and other investors €1.6 million to support the development of CK1 inhibitors
Jan 30, 2024
CasInvent Pharma, a university spin-off focused on developing anti-cancer compounds, has successfully closed the Pre-Series A funding round, raising a total of € 1.6 million from both existing and new investors.
By leveraging our financial support and expertise, we can contribute to the growth and success of startups in Poland and the Baltic countries
Jan 22, 2024
Read the interview with Nicolas Beuzen, the new Investment Advisor at i&i Biotech Fund. In addition to other topics, the interview covers his goals and visions for joining i&i Bio, the reasons behind his decision to accept the job offer, and how specific activities like off-road motorcycling and Battodo are beneficial to his work.
Life Sciences and Artificial Intelligence? Only ten per cent of AI is used in a truly innovative way, the rest are common applications
Jan 8, 2024
Interview with Pavlína Koutecká, Scientific Analyst at i&i Biotech Fund. Among other topics, she discusses the opportunities presented by the use of artificial intelligence in Life Sciences, the associated risks, and why we should not fear that artificial intelligence will one day replace scientists.
IOCB Tech Group Successfully Represents the Czech Republic at the Prestigious Biotech Conference BIO-Europe 2023
Nov 30, 2023
Over 5,000 participants from more than 50 countries and a total of over 30,000 official meetings – that was the outcome of this year's edition of the international BIO-Europe conference in Munich. The Czech Republic was represented by the companies IOCB Tech, i&i Prague, and i&i Biotech Fund (i&i Bio), which are entities associated with the IOCB Tech Group under the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
HeartBeat.bio raises € 4.5 million in Pre-Series A financing to drive development of organoid screening platform for cardiac drug discovery
Nov 2, 2023
New funds committed to market-ready development of HeartBeat.bio’s unique 3D human tissue-based Cardioid Drug Discovery Platform for heart disease. Organoid cultivation, screening and data analysis platform combines organoid technology, automated hardware solutions and AI-based software suitable for primary drug screening and clinical trials-in-a-dish. Investor syndicate includes: i&i Biotech Fund; Invest AG; aws Gründungsfonds II; and Tensor Ventures.
Česká spořitelna is the first bank in the Czech Republic to invest EUR 5 million in an academic investment fund i&i Bio focused on drug development and medical innovations
Sep 23, 2023
Česká spořitelna becomes the first bank in the Czech Republic to invest in an investment fund i&i Biotech Fund I (i&i Bio), which operates at the renowned Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IOCB). By 2026, i&i Bio plans to invest in around 20 medical and biotechnology projects with the support of Spořitelna, helping them to move from research to practice, and patients.
Delta Diagnostics raises from
i&i Biotech Fund and other investors €5.25 million in Series A
May 9, 2023
Dutch start-up, Delta Diagnostics, a leader in label-free, multiplexed biosensing, announced today that it has successfully secured Series A funding of €5.25 million. The funding round was made possible by a consortium of four investors: i&i Biotech Fund, Oost NL, InnovationQuarter and PhotonDelta.
i&i Biotech Fund will invest up to EUR 340 000 into Czech startup Sophomer s.r.o.
Mar 15, 2023
The Czech academic startup Sophomer s.r.o. has announced an investment of up to EUR 340 000 from i&i Biotech Fund. The funding will be used for further technology development, team expansion and new laboratory space. Sophomer s.r.o. was established at the end of 2022 as a result of a collaboration between the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry CAS, the company Elisa Development, and the bio-innovation center i&i Prague.
The Advisory Committee of i&i Biotech Fund strengthened by renowned economist Daniel Münich
Jan 4, 2023
i&i Biotech Fund announces the launch of cooperation with Associate Professor Daniel Münich, who has joined the Fund's Advisory Committee. The renowned Czech economist will join the European Investment Fund's (EIF) delegate as a representative of the bio-innovation center, i&i Prague, and the innovation ecosystem around the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS (IOCB), to support the further development of i&i Biotech Fund.
We are looking for new Antonin Holy and new drugs and diagnostics that can have a global impact and success
Dec 23, 2022
"i&i Bio invests in technology transfer with a strong focus on healthcare. We look for unique technologies that come from Czech and foreign science. We always try to find something new and unique, something that could bring great benefit to patients and also to our investors," says Jaromír Zahrádka for Fintag.cz. The podcast is in the Czech language.
Experienced businessmen join forces with excellent science, invest EUR 2 million in the fund at the IOCB
Nov 30, 2022
Leading Czech businessmen have joined the support of the most promising scientific projects. Eight prominent entrepreneurs have contributed nearly €2 million to the i&i Biotech Fund (i&i Bio), an investment fund that specializes in finding and developing unique academic startups in the fields of drug development, diagnostics and medical technology. The new investors include among others Ondřej Bartoš from Credo Ventures or Jaroslav Řasa, founder of ABRA Software.
i&i Biotech Fund invests more than €1 Million in Enzyre to help to advance pioneering diagnostic technology platform for hemophilia patients
Nov 2, 2022
Enzyre, a company developing a breakthrough ambulant diagnostic technology for blood coagulation testing, today announced that it has successfully raised EUR 12 million Series A funding led by new investor Oost NL, with participation from i&i Biotech Fund, Demcon Investment as technology partner and existing investors, Takeda Ventures and Novalis Biotech. The financing also includes an Innovation Credit from the Dutch Government.
Celeris Therapeutics to receive 12.5 million Euros in funding from the European Innovation Council
Oct19, 2022
Celeris Therapeutics a portfolio company of i&i Biotech Fund received highly prestigious funding for startups from European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA)! This is a further great success of the company confirming that Celeris' AI-Driven drug discovery platform is very unique among other AI-driven projects and it could potentially initiate a breakthrough change in the drug discovery field and also in the whole pharma industry.
Nanoligent raised €2.8 M and completed Seed round financing with support of i&i Biotech Fund I
Sep 27, 2022
Nanoligent SL, a Spanish biotech company specialized in the development of cancer treatments based on unique protein conjugates, today announces the completion of a Seed financing round of total € 2.8 M. The final closing of the Seed round consists of € 1 M investment by i&i Biotech Fund I (i&i Bio), an early-stage Life Science fund with teams in Luxemburg and Prague which is backed by the European Investment Fund.
CasInvent Pharma Raises €1.3 Million from KHAN-I and i&i Biotech Fund
Sep 13, 2022
CasInvent Pharma, an early-stage drug discovery company developing small-molecule compounds with anticancer properties, has raised a follow-up investment round of €1.3 million provided by KHAN-I and i&i Bio. With this funding, CasInvent Pharma will be strengthening its portfolio of casein kinase inhibitors and progressing its lead compound to the development candidate status.
Notes from a trip to “The most startup friendly country in the world”
Jun 13, 2022
At the end of April, Karel Kubias (one of the partners of i&i Biotech Fund) and Jiří Moos (CEO of i&i Prague) attended an event in Riga, Latvia, called Roche Latvia Innovations Day. Here you can read their blog where they describe their impressions from the event and, more importantly, provide further evidence that the Baltic States can serve as inspiration for the Czech Republic.
i&i Biotech fund Invests $1.5 Million in Sampling Human to Support the Development of Engineered Cells for Single Cell Analysis
Apr 12, 2022
This year's third i&i Bio investment goes to Sampling Human, an early stage, Life Sciences technology company that has developed a diagnostic platform that harnesses genetically engineered cells to analyze other cells in their environment.
i&i Bio's investment of $2 million goes to Dracen Pharmaceuticals, company developing cancer-fighting drugs
Mar 7, 2022
i&i Bio has announced investment of USD 2 million in Dracen Pharmaceuticals. This company is completing the first phase of clinical testing of DRP-104 (sirpiglenastat), which has the potential to significantly help the treatment of cancer.
i&i Biotech Fund invests €1 million in Celeris Therapeutics, company using AI to develop drugs
Feb 24, 2022
i&i Bio has announced an investment of EUR 1 million in CelerisTx, an early-stage drug discovery company using artificial intelligence to predict biomolecular interactions and generate new chemical entities. CelerisTx exploits its proprietary platform to develop new drugs in oncology and neurology.
