By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
Forbion, a Netherlands-based impact venture capital firm, has closed its BioEconomy Fund I at the €200 million hard cap, reaching oversubscribed status and placing it among Europe’s largest dedicated bioeconomy investment vehicles. Building on a first close in 2024, the fund expands Forbion’s biotech playbook beyond human health into planetary health solutions across food, agriculture materials and environmental technologies. So far, the fund has backed five portfolio companies aligned with that strategy, targeting scalable science that can improve efficiency, cut waste and support more resilient bio-based supply chains.
Targeting the intersection of biotechnology and planetary health, the fund advances Forbion’s push to back sustainable technologies that can help decarbonize sectors including agriculture. The focus is on biotechnologies and green chemistries that make industrial sustainability scalable, from next-gen materials to agri-food inputs designed to cut waste and emissions.
Introduced in 2024 with an initial goal of €150 million, Fund I attracted wide institutional support across Europe and North America, including KfW Capital, Novo Holdings, Rentenbank, Aurae Impact, ABN AMRO Bank and EIFO. The portfolio currently spans eeden, Genomines, SOLASTA Bio, plant-based proteins startup Novameat and textiles company PACT, each developing solutions across the fund’s four priority areas: food, agriculture, materials and environmental technologies.
Forbion General Partner Alexander Hoffmann stated, “We are seeing a clear evolution in how investors approach climate and industrial innovation. Biotechnology is moving beyond healthcare to tackle global challenges in food, materials, and resource efficiency. The strong demand for Forbion BioEconomy Fund I reflects growing confidence that science-led solutions can deliver both environmental and financial value.”
Fellow Forbion General Partner Joy Faucher said, “Capital is shifting from software to science. With strong backing from leading institutional and strategic limited partners, we are excited to build a portfolio that leverages the power of biology and chemistry to deliver much-needed, commercially viable sustainable solutions for the planet.”
Forbion plans to invest in around a dozen companies across Europe and North America, with a focus on biology-driven B2B platforms poised to gain scale. Beyond the impact case, the commercial upside is promising. Biotech-enabled alternatives to today’s materials, inputs and processes are projected to create a market worth several trillion euros over the next decade, according to McKinsey data.
According to McKinsey’s Bio Revolution report, biology-based innovations could generate $2 trillion-$4 trillion in direct annual economic impact within 10–20 years, with the agriculture sector a major beneficiary. The research estimates that up to 60 percent of global physical inputs could be produced biologically, opening the door to lower-emission fertilizers, crop inputs and proteins that compete based on cost. McKinsey’s ag analysis also points to fermentation and other bioprocesses that can replace animal-derived ingredients, reducing land use and improving food security.
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