Deal round-up 09/04/02

Soffinova announces two biotech deals

French venture capital firm Soffinova partners has completed investments in two French biopharmaceutical firms.

Soffinova has completed a E6m seed financing round at CareX. Soffinova invested E3.3m alongside Belgian venture capital fund Gimv which invested E2m and a third investor, Belgian-US fund Mara Ventures. Carex, a spin-out of the Institut de Génétique et Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, specialises in treatments of obesity-linked diseases, such as diabetes. The funding will be used to develop projects over the next 18 months.

Meanwhile Soffinova has joined the financing round of Faust, a firm specialising in research into diseases of the central nervous system. Soffinova invested alongside fellow French venture capital firm, Auriga Partners.

Matrix completes £1.3m first closing

Matrix Private Equity has announced that the firm’s Matrix Enterprise Fund has reached £1.3m at its first closing. The firm hopes to more than double the current total to around £3m by the end of June 2002.