Copenhagen. A city of contradictions. Where fairy-tale whimsy and comfort foods like ice-cream and pølser converge with a gritty maritime history, or where the cosy warmth of indoor pubs contrasts with showery weather blowing in from adjacent seas. But the Danish capital is now forging a new path as the centre of gravity for European biosciences.
For example, Bactolife, a pioneer company developing gut health solutions, recently raised over €30 million in Series B investment to support commercialisation of its Binding Protein™ technology, a revolutionary category of functional proteins that neutralises undesired metabolites and enhances gut resilience. The intention is to progress clinical validation of the supplement in both humans and animals. Bactolife is set to launch products under the ingredient brand, Helm™ for human health in the United States this year. Expansion into Asia and Europe is also underway with women and children in lower and middle-income countries a major focus.
The Bactolife investment was anchored by life science investor Novo Holdings, a company that manages the assets and wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk, regarded as the most valuable bio-pharmaceutical company in Europe. Novo Holdings oversees seed, venture and growth stage investments across its Planetary Health Investments and Principal Investments teams. As of year-end 2024, Novo Holdings had total assets of €142Bn. Bactolife has also received funding in the past from the Gates Foundation and EIFO the Danish Export and Investment Fund.
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The investment comes at a time when the Novo Nordisk Foundation has also recently allocated up to €736 million to the Copenhagen based BioInnovation Institute (BII), a leading European centre for life science and deep tech. The institute was created to bridge the gap between high-level academic research and the commercialisation of life sciences. BII has backed over 130 startups since 2018, culminating in almost €1Bn in follow-on funding. A key objective of the institute is to create high value ventures that grow the Danish economy whilst also assisting wider European competitiveness.
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Image credit: Syced, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
