# Arthur Franken

> Arthur Franken is a Series A investor at Gilde Healthcare backing Biotechnology and Medical. See 4 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Gilde Healthcare](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gilde-healthcare-partners)
- Location: Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Total investments: 4
- Last investment: Jun 2025
- Lead investor: 50%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-franken-42323b/

Arthur Franken is a Series A investor at Gilde Healthcare in Utrecht focused on Biotechnology and Medical. Arthur Franken joined Gilde in 2001. He led the investments in Conatus Pharmaceuticals (IPO on NASDAQ), FlowCardia (acquired by C. R. Bard), Moximed and MTM Laboratories (acquired by Roche). He has been involved in numerous investments and divestments including Ablynx (IPO on Euronext), Agendia, uniQure, BG Medicine (IPO on NASDAQ) and Pieris.He represents Gilde on the board of Moximed and Symphogen. He served as a board member for FlowCardia until its trade sale to C. R. Bard, MTM Laboratories until its trade sale to Roche and observed on the boards of Agendia and AMT until its IPO on Euronext.Prior to joining Gilde he gained experience in cardiovascular research at the Leiden/Amsterdam Center for Drug Research and TNO. He holds a masters degree in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University, the Netherlands. He is a Dutch national.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 3 | 75% |
| Medical | 2 | 50% |
| Biopharma | 1 | 25% |
| Life Science | 1 | 25% |
| Therapeutics | 1 | 25% |

7 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 2 | 50% |
| Series B | 2 | 50% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Spain | 1 | 25% |
| Ireland | 1 | 25% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 25% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Splice Bio | Splice Bio is a gene therapy company based on technology developed in the Muir Lab at Princeton University. The company is developing novel gene therapies based on its proprietary intein platform technology to treat patients that suffer from incurable genetic diseases. The company’s platform has the potential to address two existing limitations ofadeno-associated viruses (AAVs), both by increasing the size of the cargo gene that can be delivered and by expanding the range of tissues that can be targeted. | $135M | Series B | Jun 11, 2025 |  |
| SynOx Therapeutics | SynOx Therapeutics is a biotechnology research company that focused on developing the treatment of diffuse tenosynovial giant cell tumors. SynOx Therapeutics raises EUR 37m to develop emactuzumab to improve the lives of patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumors November 16, 2020. It was founded in 2020 and is located in Dublin City, Ireland. | $92M | Series B | Oct 30, 2024 |  |
| Splice Bio | Splice Bio is a gene therapy company based on technology developed in the Muir Lab at Princeton University. The company is developing novel gene therapies based on its proprietary intein platform technology to treat patients that suffer from incurable genetic diseases. The company’s platform has the potential to address two existing limitations ofadeno-associated viruses (AAVs), both by increasing the size of the cargo gene that can be delivered and by expanding the range of tissues that can be targeted. | $56.9M | Series A | Feb 16, 2022 |  |
| Levicept | With more than 1 billion people worldwide living with some type of chronic pain, a large unmet medical need for safe and effective analgesics exists. Traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most widely used drugs to treat pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis, but their use is limited by adverse effects ongastrointestinal and platelet function, as well as increased cardiovascular liability.Levicept is an asset-centric UK-based biotechnology company developing a novel, safe and efficacious biological therapy (LEVI-04 [p75NTR-Fc]) for the treatment of chronic pain. We are progressing LEVI-04 to phase I clinical trials to test its efficacy and safety in patients with osteoarthritis. | $13.1M | Series A | Oct 07, 2014 |  |

4 of 4 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Asabys Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/asabys-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Forbion Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/forbion-capital-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [New Enterprise Associates](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/new-enterprise-associates) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Novartis Venture Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/novartis-venture-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [UCB Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ucb-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Ysios Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ysios-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About Gilde Healthcare

VC Fund · Utrecht, The Netherlands

Gilde Healthcare is a specialized European healthcare investor managing two business lines: a lower mid-market buy-out fund and a venture & growth capital fund. It has over €800 million ($900 million) under management and is actively looking to lead new investments in digital health, diagnostics, medical devices, therapeutics and healthcareservices. Gilde successfully builds healthcare businesses across Europe and US, investing up to €35 million in a single portfolio company.

5 contacts available at Gilde Healthcare.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Edwin Graaf | Managing Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/edwin-de-graaf |
| Joep Muijrers | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/joep-muijrers |
| Pieter van der Meer | Managing Partner & Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/pieter-van-der-meer |
| Stefan Luzi | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/stefan-luzi |
| Arthur Franken | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/arthur-franken |

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- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Arthur Franken invest in?

Arthur Franken invests primarily in Biotechnology, Medical and Biopharma startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 4 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Spain. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Arthur Franken last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Arthur Franken closed in Jun 2025. Shizune tracks 4 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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