Thuja Capital

Investment decisions are led by Managing Partner and founder Harrold van Barlingen and Partner Dr. Michel Briejer. Van Barlingen established the firm after a career in academic technology transfer and early-stage life sciences investing. Briejer brings operational biotech experience from his previous role at Galapagos NV, complementing the scientific sourcing expertise on the partnership.

Thuja sources primarily through deep ties with academic medical centers across Benelux, Germany, and the DACH region, including KU Leuven, UMC Utrecht, and Charité in Berlin. Its partners maintain relationships with technology transfer offices that give them early visibility into spin-out formation. This academic-first sourcing model means it often reviews opportunities before they are broadly marketed to other venture firms.

Thuja Capital operates as a dedicated venture capital fund manager, not a family office. It manages a series of closed-end limited partnership funds focused exclusively on life sciences and health technology. Its limited partners include institutional investors such as the European Investment Fund and Dutch pension funds.

The firm targets pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds, typically writing first institutional checks into academic spin-outs. Its mandate covers therapeutics, medical devices, and digital health, with a geographic focus on Northern and Central Europe. Thuja acts as lead or co-lead investor in most of its initial commitments.

Yes, Thuja frequently co-invests alongside specialized European life sciences investors including Forbion, Gilde Healthcare, and LSP. Its syndicate partners reflect its position within the deep and collaborative Benelux health-tech venture ecosystem. The firm typically leads or co-leads its rounds, maintaining a concentrated portfolio of approximately 15-20 active companies per fund.

Thuja Capital held the final close of its fourth fund, Thuja Capital Fund IV, in September 2023 at €100 million, bringing aggregate assets across its fund family to over €300 million. Fund IV continues the same seed-to-Series A life sciences mandate as its predecessor vehicles. Leading up to Fund IV, the firm had secured commitments from the European Investment Fund and a cadre of institutional Dutch investors.

BioGeneration Ventures is the predecessor entity to Thuja Capital, with Harrold van Barlingen having been a founding partner of BGV before establishing the Thuja brand in 2006. While both firms operate in the European life sciences venture space, Thuja was formalized as an independent management company with its own fund family. The two entities maintain separate partnership structures and fund strategies, though they share some historical DNA.