Ysios Capital opens a new stage with Telescope and looks to technology transfer

Ysios Capital takes another step forward. With over 15 years of experience and a portfolio under management of 400 million euros, the venture capital firm has entered a new phase with the launch of Telescope, a fund that will target biotech companies listed in the United States. "Our vocation is to invest in the medicine of the future and in companies that are developing new drugs. Access innovation wherever it is," summarizes Jordi Xiol, a partner at the firm.

The new fund is managed by Andbank, with Ysios Capital as investment advisor, a new formula for the management company to contribute its knowledge of the health sector. Authorized by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) at the end of 2024, the fund began operating in February and aims to create a portfolio of 20 companies. With no rush to choose which companies to invest in, the investment horizon will be a minimum of two years per company.

The focus of investments is on Nasdaq because that is where most biotech companies go, including European ones, "a sector with a lot of innovation, very capital-intensive, and with very high return potential." It is in the US market where they find more funding and specialized investors. "This fund gives us the opportunity for Spanish and European investors to access this innovation listed in the United States," says Xiol. The impact of the new Trump administration remains to be seen, which has caused uncertainty to hover over the economy and low valuations for the health sector.

Telescope will focus on drugs for oncology, rare diseases, immunology, and metabolic diseases. "We only want to invest in what we know very well," Xiol emphasizes. Telescope's portfolio will consist of 25% companies in a very advanced stage, with a drug about to enter the market or already in the commercialization phase; 50% companies with clinical results; and 25% firms still in the clinical phase but without having achieved any results yet.

Telescope arrives after the first three venture capital funds of Ysios, based in Barcelona and San Sebastián. The third, endowed with 216 million euros, has finished its investment period, with 16 companies in the portfolio, two of which are already listed (Mineralys and Lava). The first was 65 million euros and the second, 126 million euros. Since they started, they have invested 50 million euros in Catalonia, a figure that triples, up to 150 million euros, with the attraction of international capital.

"We are growing as a manager, which allows us not necessarily to invest in more companies but to invest more per company. This also makes us more competitive globally," says one of the firm's founders, Joël Jean-Mairet. With this first leg in more mature companies, Ysios Capital sets its sights on future technology transfer. "We have been seeing for some time that there is a need for early stage financing," remarks Jean-Mairet. Still in the study phase, the investment firm has on the table creating a new fund to promote the creation of new companies.