# Sofinnova Partners

Sofinnova Partners is a Venture Capital based in Paris, France.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Paris, France
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** Paris, France
- **Founded:** 1972
- **Assets under management:** $2.5B - $3.5B (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** sofinnovapartners.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://fr.linkedin.com/company/sofinnova-partners

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 164104
- **SEC file number:** 802-76686
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/164104

## About

Sofinnova Partners is a life sciences venture capital firm focused on breakthrough innovations that solve pressing problems for people and the planet. Founded in 1972, it has backed more than 500 companies over 50 years and has over €4 billion under management. It invests across the life sciences value chain from seed to later-stage, with a focus on healthcare and sustainability, including biopharma, medtech, digital medicine, agriculture and industrial processes.

## Sectors

- Medical Devices
- Industrial Biotech
- Biopharmaceuticals
- Digital Medicine

## Offices

- London, United Kingdom
- Milan, Italy

## People

- Antoine Papiernik — Chairman & Managing Partner
- Moncef Slaoui — Partner
- Henrijette Richter — Managing Partner

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Sofinnova Partners?

Chairman and Managing Partner Antoine Papiernik has led the firm since 1997 and sits on the investment committees across all strategies. Day-to-day investment decisions are managed by dedicated managing partners for each sector strategy — Henrijette Richter oversees the Sofinnova Capital biopharma fund, while dedicated partners run Sofinnova MD for medical devices and the Industrial Biotech strategy. Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a partner since 2021, provides scientific guidance and strategic pharma relationships but does not serve as a fund head.

### Is Sofinnova Partners the same as the U.S.-based Sofinnova Investments?

No. The two firms share a common origin dating to the 1970s but have been completely independent entities for decades. Sofinnova Partners is based in Paris, focuses exclusively on European life sciences venture, and operates under a separate partnership structure. Sofinnova Investments is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, and pursues a distinct investment strategy with a U.S.-centric portfolio. They do not co-invest as a matter of course and have separate limited partner bases.

### How does Sofinnova Partners source proprietary deal flow?

The firm's sourcing model relies on decades-deep relationships with European academic research institutions, university technology transfer offices, and hospital systems. Sofinnova Partners regularly builds companies around single-asset spinouts from laboratories at Inserm, CNRS, and the Max Planck Institute. The partnership also leverages its scientific advisory network, including Nobel laureates and senior pharma executives, to identify translational research that is not yet visible to generalist venture funds.

### What is Sofinnova's posture on co-investments with external GPs?

Sofinnova Partners selectively co-invests with other specialist life sciences funds, particularly on larger Series B and C rounds where syndication de-risks single-asset biotech exposure. The firm also acts as a local partner for U.S. venture firms seeking European life sciences exposure, occasionally participating in transatlantic syndicates. However, it does not programmatically offer co-investment rights to its own LPs as a fund-of-funds or separate managed account structure.

### Does Sofinnova Partners participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

Sofinnova Partners invests almost exclusively through direct equity positions in portfolio companies via its three dedicated fund strategies. The firm has historically not operated a fund-of-funds program, nor does it make LP commitments to external venture funds as a material part of its strategy. Its limited partners are institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices that gain exposure to European life sciences venture exclusively through Sofinnova's direct investment vehicles.

### Which sectors does Sofinnova Partners explicitly avoid?

Sofinnova Partners does not invest outside the life sciences and adjacent industrial biotechnology sectors. The firm avoids consumer technology, enterprise software, fintech, and generalist deep tech, even when such deals present strong venture returns elsewhere in Europe. Within life sciences, the firm has historically avoided healthcare services and payer-facing digital health models that lack intellectual property rooted in molecular biology or medical device engineering.

## Related profiles

- [Societe Generale Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/societe-generale-ventures)
- [Sound Partners](https://altss.com/profile/sound-partners)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:11.274Z

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