Early-stage VC Investment
October 2007
Early-stage VC Investment
Interview with Graziano Seghezzi
Early-stage VC Investment
In this second exclusive interview live from Geneva, Fintan Walton talks to Graziano Seghezzi, Partner at France-based venture capital (VC) firm Sofinnova Partners. With about half of the firm’s investments placed in the life sciences, Graziano talks about the company’s established and successful, if somewhat unusual, strategy to finance only early-stage companies. Actelion is given as an example of one of its success stories. The discussion moves on to the subject of exit strategies, and whether acquisition is a viable alternative to IPO. Graziano gives his opinion on how the European IPO market is faring at present, as well as how the European biotech sector is doing as a whole and why it has become increasingly attractive to US investors.
About Graziano Seghezzi
After graduating from the University of Pavia in Genetics and Microbiology, Graziano spent 5 years as a biomedical researcher at New York University’s School of Medicine and also obtained an MBA from RSM Erasmus University. His career in VC started at Sofinnova Partners, where he initially worked to identify new investment opportunities in pharmaceutical and medical device companies in Italy. Graziano then joined Index Ventures in Geneva for 3 years, where he invested in biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals companies. He joined Sofinnova Partners as a Partner in 2006.
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is an independent VC company based in Paris, and also has a sister company, Sofinnova Ventures, based in San Francisco. The company invests 50:50 in IT and the life sciences, and focuses primarily on Europe, although it has some interests in the US. Its strategy is to invest in start-ups and early-stage companies with ambitious projects, and it will act as lead or co-lead investor, take an active part on the Board of Directors, and bring added value to the management team.
