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Mar 30, 2023 - Economy & Business

Venture capital fund formed to focus on dementia treatment startups

Dan Primack
Illustration of an unraveling yarn in the shape of a brain against a man in silhouette

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Venture capital firm EQT Life Sciences yesterday announced the close of its debut LSP Dementia Fund, with €260 million in capital commitments.

Why it matters: This is the first dementia-focused fund ever raised entirely by a European VC firm, although there was an earlier one in 2013 that was partially formed and funded by various governments.

  • So far it's made five investments and expects to find another eight or nine companies.

By the numbers: Around 54 million people currently suffer from dementia, and one estimate has that awful figure tripling by 2050.

What they're saying: Philip Scheltens, a longtime dementia researcher leading the EQT effort, tells Axios he believes it could outperform other life sciences funds:

  • "There are so few investors focused on it, so much to invest in and so much appetite from pharma because there are basically no solutions on the market."
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