# EMBL Ventures

> EMBL Ventures is a VC fund backing Biotechnology and Health Care. See 11 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Heidelberg, Germany
- Total investments: 11
- Last investment: Jul 2021
- Lead investor: 27%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/embl-ventures-gmbh/about/
- Website: http://www.embl-ventures.com

EMBL Ventures is a German venture capital engaged in the financing and development of products and technologies in the healthcare sector. EMBL Ventures manages three Funds with a total of 120m capital on behalf of major European private and institutional investors. We prefer a role as lead or co-lead investor in financing rounds which typicallyrange from 5m to 40m. Our total commitment in a single portfolio company can go as high as 10m. As with our portfolio companies each Partner at EMBL Ventures strives to build long-lasting personal relationships with Investors in our Funds, such as institutionals, high net-worth individuals and family offices. These relationships are based on EMBL Ventures' core values of open and prompt communication coupled with the ambition to generate maximum return.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for EMBL Ventures. Shizune tracks 5 team members at EMBL Ventures. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/embl-ventures?utm_source=investor_profile

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Series A | $3.9M–$15M |
| Series B | $21M–$70M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 8 | 73% |
| Health Care | 4 | 36% |
| Therapeutics | 4 | 36% |
| Medical | 3 | 27% |
| Chemical | 1 | 9% |

12 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 5 | 45% |
| Series B | 3 | 27% |
| Series C | 1 | 9% |
| Series D | 1 | 9% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Germany | 4 | 36% |
| Austria | 2 | 18% |
| Ireland | 1 | 9% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | 9% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Christoph Antz | Managing Partner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/christoph-antz |
| Jan Adams | Founding Partner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jan-adams |
| John Arnold | Manager | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-arnold-2 |
| Jorge Galera Garcia Montes | Managing Partner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jorge-galera-garcia-montes |
| Stefan Herr | Managing Director | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/stefan-herr |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Topas Therapeutics | Topas Therapeutics GmbH is a private Hamburg, Germany-based biotechnology company focused on developing products to address areas of major unmet need, including autoimmune diseases, allergies and anti-drug antibodies. The Topas Particle Conjugates technology platform induces antigen-specific immune tolerance by harnessing the liver’s naturalimmunology capabilities. The Company has several proprietary programs; lead product candidate TPM203 has recently entered clinical testing for pemphigus vulgaris, an orphan disease. Other programs are in anti-drug antibodies, celiac disease, Type 1 diabetes, as well as a multiple sclerosis program that is available for partnering.Topas has a research and option agreement with Eli Lilly and Company focused on antigen-specific tolerance induction and a multi-year agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to collaborate in the field of anti-drug antibodies.Topas’ investors include: Epidarex Capital, Gimv, EMBL Ventures, Evotec and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. | $21.4M | Series B | Jul 29, 2021 |  |
| Crescendo Biologics | Crescendo Biologics is a new Cambridge-based company whose vision is to deliver next-generation antibody therapeutics based on novel class-leading platforms.The focus of the company is on developing platforms that will address key issues in generating high-affinity, soluble, human VH antibody fragments. These are the smallest fragments thatretain antibody binding, and have many desirable properties as potential therapeutics. Crescendo will then utilise these platforms for product development of in-house targets or in partnership with other companies. | $70M | Series B | Apr 30, 2018 |  |
| Arsanis | Arsanis is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on applying monoclonal antibody (mAb) immunotherapies to address serious infectious diseases. A deep understanding of the pathogenesis of infection, paired with access to some of the most advanced mAb discovery techniques and platforms available today, has positioned Arsanis to build andadvance a pipeline of novel mAbs with multiple mechanisms of action and high potency against their intended targets.The company’s lead clinical program, ASN100, is aimed at serious Staphylococcus aureus infections and is being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical trial for the prevention of S. aureus pneumonia in high-risk, mechanically ventilated patients. In addition to ASN100, its preclinical pipeline is comprised of mAbs targeting multiple serious bacterial and viral pathogens, including respiratory syncytial virus.Arsanis is a U.S. company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, with European research and preclinical development operations headquartered in Vienna, Austria (Arsanis Biosciences GmbH). | $45.5M | Series D | Apr 26, 2017 |  |
| Luxendo | Luxendo will manufacture and sell advanced Single Plane Illumination Microscopes (SPIM) originally developed at EMBL by Lars Hufnagel and his team. SPIM is a rapidly emerging technology that combines optical sectioning with multiple-view imaging to observe tissues and living organisms with impressive resolution. Unlike the conventional techniquesof widefield and confocal fluorescence microscopy, the light sheet technique illuminates on the region surrounding the focal plane of the detection objective in a twin objective configuration. | $8.8M | Series A | Jan 12, 2017 |  |
| Allecra Therapeutics | Allecra Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, was established in 2013 and is dedicated to the development of novel treatments to combat multi drug-resistant bacterial infections. Allecra has a novel β-lactamase inhibitor in Phase 2 clinical development. By inhibiting β-lactamases Allecra’s new medicine directly tackles emergingresistance mechanisms of certain hard-to-treat bacteria. These resistance mechanisms are often found in hospital-acquired Gram-negative bacterial infections, and are of particular concern to doctors, healthcare providers, to patients and their families and to governments around the world. Allecra Therapeutics is situated in the BioValley Life Sciences region in the Upper Rhein valley whichencompasses northwest Switzerland, southwestern Germany and the Alsace region of France | $24.1M | Series B | Jun 15, 2016 |  |
| Topas Therapeutics | Topas Therapeutics GmbH is a private Hamburg, Germany-based biotechnology company focused on developing products to address areas of major unmet need, including autoimmune diseases, allergies and anti-drug antibodies. The Topas Particle Conjugates technology platform induces antigen-specific immune tolerance by harnessing the liver’s naturalimmunology capabilities. The Company has several proprietary programs; lead product candidate TPM203 has recently entered clinical testing for pemphigus vulgaris, an orphan disease. Other programs are in anti-drug antibodies, celiac disease, Type 1 diabetes, as well as a multiple sclerosis program that is available for partnering.Topas has a research and option agreement with Eli Lilly and Company focused on antigen-specific tolerance induction and a multi-year agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to collaborate in the field of anti-drug antibodies.Topas’ investors include: Epidarex Capital, Gimv, EMBL Ventures, Evotec and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. | $15.4M | Series A | Mar 22, 2016 |  |
| Luxendo | Luxendo will manufacture and sell advanced Single Plane Illumination Microscopes (SPIM) originally developed at EMBL by Lars Hufnagel and his team. SPIM is a rapidly emerging technology that combines optical sectioning with multiple-view imaging to observe tissues and living organisms with impressive resolution. Unlike the conventional techniquesof widefield and confocal fluorescence microscopy, the light sheet technique illuminates on the region surrounding the focal plane of the detection objective in a twin objective configuration. | $6.6M | Series A | Oct 14, 2015 |  |
| Vira Therapeutics | ViraTherapeutics develops highly potent anti-cancer therapeutics based on oncolytic (cancer-destroying) viruses. Our proprietary oncolytic virus, VSV-GP, efficiently destroys cancer cells, while leaving normal tissues unharmed. ViraTherapeutics currently performs preclinical safety and efficacy studies for VSV-GP and aims to conduct first clinicaltrials in cancer patients. | $3.9M | Series A | Jun 24, 2015 |  |
| Opsona | Drug development firm focused on immunology. They are headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Opsona Therapeutics is one of Europe's most innovative and dynamic drug development companies. We are at the forefront of drug development in immunology research, with particular focus on the innate immunity pathways. Since its founding in 2004,Opsona has validated and developed a series of exciting new drug candidates and strategies which modulate the human innate immune system. We are located in Dublin, Ireland. | $3.3M | Series C | Oct 02, 2013 |  |
| Allecra Therapeutics | Allecra Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, was established in 2013 and is dedicated to the development of novel treatments to combat multi drug-resistant bacterial infections. Allecra has a novel β-lactamase inhibitor in Phase 2 clinical development. By inhibiting β-lactamases Allecra’s new medicine directly tackles emergingresistance mechanisms of certain hard-to-treat bacteria. These resistance mechanisms are often found in hospital-acquired Gram-negative bacterial infections, and are of particular concern to doctors, healthcare providers, to patients and their families and to governments around the world. Allecra Therapeutics is situated in the BioValley Life Sciences region in the Upper Rhein valley whichencompasses northwest Switzerland, southwestern Germany and the Alsace region of France |  | Series A | Apr 18, 2013 |  |

10 of 11 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Andera Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/edmond-de-rothschild-investment-partners) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/boehringer-ingelheim-venture-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/edmond-de-rothschild-private-equity) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Epidarex Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/epidarex-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Forbion Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/forbion-capital-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Gimv](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gimv) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does EMBL Ventures invest in?

EMBL Ventures invests primarily in Biotechnology, Health Care and Therapeutics startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 11 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Germany. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is EMBL Ventures's check size?

EMBL Ventures typically joins rounds of $3.9M–$15M at Series A and $21M–$70M at Series B. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds EMBL Ventures participates in.

### How do I contact EMBL Ventures?

Public channels for EMBL Ventures include LinkedIn and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at EMBL Ventures?

The team at EMBL Ventures includes Christoph Antz (Managing Partner), Jan Adams (Founding Partner) and John Arnold (Manager). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### 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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