BioRN hosted on March 15, 2023 in Heidelberg a ‘Stammtisch’ with OCCIDENT, an international venture capital investor with offices in Zug and Munich. With the motivation to establish trusted connections within innovation ecosystems as early possible, startups and investors from Germany and Switzerland met and exchanged in a very informal atmosphere.
This was also the occasion to exchange with OCCIDENT about some topics:
How important is for investors to connect to ecosystems (at early-stage)?
Based on our experience, it is highly beneficial to establish connections to all stakeholders within innovation ecosystems. The outdated approach of working in silos and hoarding knowledge is no longer effective. Instead, building strong networks can help us leverage our resources and access insights that might be beyond our usual scope.
Why Heidelberg? Why this ecosystem is interesting for you?
Heidelberg is a world-renowned centre for life science research, particularly in the field of oncology. As an early-stage venture capital investor, we at OCCIDENT find Heidelberg to be an extremely exciting melting pot that brings together cutting-edge academic research with the expertise of established pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore, the strong surrounding ecosystem facilitates the seamless transfer of academic projects into promising young biotech companies.
Is the region already represented in your portfolio? Are you already investing in company from southwest Germany?
No, unfortunately we don’t have any life sciences investments (yet!) in the Heidelberg region, but we would be happy if that changed soon. However, we recently invested in a startup in the field of smart sensors for mechanical components in Darmstadt – OCCIDENT also invests beyond the life sciences sector.
Thank you OCCIDENT for coming to Heidelberg! Startups, Venture Capital and Life Sciences are the perfect ingredients to foster innovation in healthcare!