Sunstone Announces First Closing of its Fourth Life Science Venture Fund at $91 Million

Sunstone Life Science Ventures today announced the first closing of its Sunstone Life Science Ventures Fund IV ("Sunstone LSV IV") at $91 million. The investment strategy of the new fund is a continuation of Sunstone's successful strategy of investing in novel therapeutics with the potential to improve the quality of patient care and treatment. The typical investments are based on strong science and technology with innovative products addressing unmet medical needs within the framework of an attractive business case. The geographical scope is Europe with particular emphasis on the large life science hubs. The new fund will start to invest immediately.

The previous Sunstone Life Science Venture Fund III made eleven investments in the same field and has reported top quartile performance. Recent and notable exits from this fund include Rigontec (acquired by MSD in 2017) and Prexton (acquired by H. Lundbeck in 2018). Several of the major investors of the previous Sunstone funds also committed to Sunstone LSV IV. The investor base includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), Danish Growth Capital II, Vækstfonden, and the general partners of the fund.

Commenting on the announcement, Søren Lemonius, Managing General Partner, said: "The success of this fundraising is a strong validation of our strategy. Successful investment cases like Rigontec and Prexton are great examples of how our strategy can combine innovative science and improved patient care with superior returns to our investors. We look forward to continuing this investment strategy with Sunstone LSV IV."

The investment team consists of Søren Lemonius, Managing General Partner; Peter Benson, Chairman & General Partner; Dr Sten Verland, General Partner and Dr Claus Andersson, General Partner. All experienced venture capital professionals with previous industry background and access to an extensive network of industry experts and scientific leaders.

Sunstone LSV IV is targeting a final closing of up to $170 million. Final closing is expected early 2020 or before.