Successful VC event in Berlin kicks off new year

With the friendly support of Deutsche Bank and TVM Capital Life Science, BIO Deutschland kicked off the new year by hosting a networking event that included company presentations and investor panel discussions. The event, held at Deutsche Bank’s Quartier Zukunft in Berlin’s Friedrichsstrasse, was well attended despite storm Sabine. Jan Schmidt-Brand, CFO of Heidelberg Pharma AG, opened the programme with a talk on project financing in joint ventures with VC investment. Norbert Henschel, CFO of Miltenyi B. V. & Co. KG, then spoke about his company’s restructuring in 2019 and its plans for developing innovative cell therapies. Thirteen companies had reserved “Pitch Minutes” and presented their business models to investors and other attendees. Viola Bronsema, Managing Director of BIO Deutschland, participated in a panel discussion with Regina Hodits (Wellington Partners), Thom Rasche (Earlybird), Holger Reithinger (Forbion), Karlheinz Schmelig (Creathor Venture) and Klaus Stöckemann (Peppermint VenturePartners) that covered topics such as what makes projects investment-worthy, what therapeutic strategies will be important in the future and what is the right way to approach investors.