---
title: German Healthcare Group Fresenius Launches €200 Million Venture Capital Fund
description: Fresenius has created a corporate venture capital fund of more than €200 million to invest in healthcare start-ups, led by new hire Thomas Thestrup.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
updated: 2026-07-25T03:20:02.763Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/fresenius-ventures-200-million-healthcare-fund
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/fresenius-ventures-thomas-thestrup-30101.webp
categories: Business
content_type: News
region: Global
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Fresenius, the German healthcare group behind Fresenius Kabi and Fresenius Helios, has set up a corporate venture capital fund with an intended investment volume of more than €200 million over the next five years. The new unit, Fresenius Ventures, will back founders and companies from early financing rounds through to the growth stage, the company says.

Fresenius Ventures sits alongside the group's existing strategic platforms in pharma, medical technology and care provision, rather than replacing them. The fund combines venture capital with medical, regulatory and operational expertise, and gives portfolio companies access to Fresenius' clinical, scientific and academic networks, the company says. Investment decisions will follow Fresenius' existing capital allocation approach.

Michael Sen, chief executive of Fresenius, called the fund a strategic instrument of the group's #FutureFresenius plan. He said it would give the company early access to breakthrough technologies, new ideas and entrepreneurial talent while strengthening its position in adjacent growth fields.

Corporate venture capital has become a bigger part of healthcare funding generally. About a quarter of all venture deals now involve a corporate investor, up from one in five in 2022 and roughly one in nine in 2010, according to [industry data](https://www.massivelybetterhealthcare.com/resources/corporate-venture-capital-healthcare). Large healthcare and pharmaceutical groups increasingly run their own investment arms alongside acquisitions, seeking early access to technology rather than waiting to buy proven companies outright.

## What Will Fresenius Ventures Invest In

The company has named four potential investment areas: precision nutrition, microbiome research, new treatment modalities and [digital care provision](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/coral-healthcare-automation-seed-lightspeed-z47). Each sits next to a business Fresenius already runs. Fresenius Kabi develops clinical nutrition products and reaches around 450 million patients a year. Fresenius Helios is Europe's largest private hospital operator, treating around 27 million patients annually. A venture arm that funds start-ups in nutrition science or digital care gives the group an early look at technology that could eventually plug into either business.

Fresenius is not new to corporate venturing. Its former dialysis subsidiary, Fresenius Medical Care, now a separately listed company in which Fresenius remains the largest shareholder with around 27.8 per cent of shares, runs its own venture arm, Fresenius Medical Care Ventures, which has backed medical device and digital health start-ups including Albutec and eGenesis. Fresenius Ventures is a separate, group level vehicle with a broader remit across the parent company's full portfolio.

## Who Runs Fresenius Ventures

Thomas Michael Thestrup will lead the new unit as managing director. He joins from Angelini Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Italian industrial group Angelini Industries, where he was senior principal for biotech, based in Copenhagen. Before that, he was director of corporate business development and strategy at the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck, held a global business development role at UCB, and worked in [life science venture investing](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/intactis-bio-living-neuron-processor-seed-round) at Sunstone Capital. He holds a doctorate from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Munich.

> "Fresenius Ventures backs the innovators shaping the next era of healthcare with the experience, pace and conviction founders expect. We offer more than capital: deep operating and regulatory expertise across global markets, coupled with access to the clinical, scientific and academic ecosystems where real progress happens today."
> — Thomas Thestrup, Managing Director and Head of Fresenius Ventures

## How Fresenius Ventures Compares With Other Corporate Health Funds

Large healthcare and pharmaceutical companies have run venture arms for years as a way to spot innovation before it reaches the market. The [Novartis Venture Fund](https://www.nvfund.com/) manages more than $750 million in committed capital across over 40 portfolio companies from bases in Basel and Cambridge, Massachusetts. At €200 million over five years, the Fresenius fund starts smaller than some established players, but gives a company with €22.6 billion in 2025 revenue and operations in more than 60 countries a formal route into start-ups it might otherwise only meet as a later stage acquirer.

Fresenius Ventures can be found at [fresenius-ventures.com](https://fresenius-ventures.com).

## FAQ

**Q: What is corporate venture capital?**
Corporate venture capital is when an established company invests directly in start-ups, usually in fields close to its own business, in exchange for equity. Unlike a traditional venture capital fund, the investor is a corporation seeking strategic access to new technology alongside a financial return.

**Q: How does a corporate venture fund make money?**
Returns work the same way as in any venture investment: portfolio companies are acquired or go public at a higher valuation than the fund paid in. A corporate fund like Fresenius Ventures also gains strategic value, such as early access to technology or research partnerships, alongside any financial return.

**Q: Who leads Fresenius Ventures?**
Thomas Michael Thestrup, previously senior principal for biotech at Angelini Ventures, was appointed managing director and head of Fresenius Ventures. He has more than 15 years of experience across research, health tech and the pharmaceutical industry.