ACT Venture Capital
Dublin, Ireland · AcceleratorFounded 1994. Multi-stage investor in ICT and healthcare; has raised over €600M across funds and backed companies like Cubic3 and Deciphex.
AcceleratorSeed to GrowthICTHealthcare
Directory
Healthcare startup ecosystem
Founders, investors, and support organizations active in Healthcare.
Armilar Venture Partners
Lisbon, Portugal · AcceleratorSpun out in 2016. Deep tech and healthcare investor with a history from seed to growth stages.
AcceleratorSeed to GrowthDeep TechEnterprise ITHealthcare
Bioptimus
Paris, France · StartupBioptimus is the self-proclaimed "Mistral of Biology," spun out in early 2024 by a team of alumni from Google DeepMind and Owkin, including CEO Jean-Philippe Vert. The company is building what it calls the first universal foundation model for biology. Where large language models were trained on text to learn human language, Bioptimus trains on biological data—DNA sequences, protein structures, cellular imagery, and clinical phenotypes—to infer the underlying rules of life. The ambition is not just better predictions but a unified biological reasoning layer that can simulate outcomes before expensive lab work happens. By 2026, Bioptimus has moved from a research thesis to early commercial traction. After a $41M Series A in 2025, the company released its first commercial model that can predict how a specific molecule will interact with a human cell with unusually high accuracy. This enables in-silico screening that reduces wet-lab costs and improves hit rates for drug discovery. French pharma leaders such as Sanofi have begun using these models to prioritize compounds and compress early-stage discovery timelines. The product value is immediate: fewer failed experiments, faster candidate selection, and deeper mechanistic insight. Bioptimus' roadmap focuses on "multi-scale biology," connecting the micro level (genomics and proteomics) to the macro level (patient outcomes and clinical data). Rather than being limited to protein folding, the models aim to bridge across data modalities so a genetic mutation can be linked to disease pathways, tissue behavior, and potential therapeutic interventions. This requires data breadth and regulatory trust, and Bioptimus is building a defensive moat through European data sovereignty. It leverages partnerships with European research hospitals and biobanks to access high-quality patient data that is difficult for US competitors to acquire under GDPR constraints. That compliance burden becomes a competitive advantage: safer access, better provenance, and stronger alignment with European health data governance. The company remains deeply embedded in the Paris ecosystem. It was incubated inside Owkin before spinning out, maintains a presence around Station F, and benefits from the cross-pollination between French AI and biotech communities. Its investor base reflects that positioning: Sofinnova Partners, Bpifrance, Cathay Innovation, Xavier Niel, and Frst provide a blend of life-science expertise, sovereign capital, and deep-tech conviction. In 2026, Bioptimus is the clearest European bet that foundation models can unlock biology at scale—and a contender to become the default AI layer for drug discovery in Europe.
StartupGrowthBiotechAIHealthcare
Grow by Jose de Mello
Lisbon, Portugal · AcceleratorLaunched 2017. Corporate venture program connecting startups with the Jose de Mello Group in healthcare, energy, and infrastructure. Support: pilot agreements, corporate guidance, and potential customer contracts. Scope: National.
AcceleratorHealthcareEnergyInfrastructure
Impact Hub Vienna
Vienna, Austria · Innovation HubImpact Hub Vienna is a leading center for social entrepreneurship and innovation, part of the global Impact Hub network that spans 100+ cities. Founded in 2010 in Vienna, it provides coworking space, incubation programs, and a vibrant community for startups addressing social and environmental challenges. Impact Hub Vienna runs several tailored acceleration initiatives – for example, RE:WIEN (supporting urban sustainability startups in partnership with the city) and Better Mobility Accelerator (for green mobility solutions). These programs typically offer mentorship, workshops, and occasionally grant funding or prize money to selected ventures. The Hub has a strong convening power: its corporate and NGO partners include Vienna’s public agencies, energy companies, and organizations like WWF. Startups to come out of Impact Hub Vienna’s ecosystem include Refugeeswork.at (job platform for refugees), Kiweno (at-home health tests), and EET (solar energy storage solutions). In addition to formal accelerators, Impact Hub offers its members year-round benefits – from “Connect” meetups to an Investor Circle that links impact startups with socially-minded investors. The facility itself, located centrally in Vienna, hosts numerous hackathons, pitch nights, and community events that cross-pollinate ideas between sectors. Uniquely, Impact Hub is structured as a social enterprise: it’s mission-driven to amplify impact, and revenue comes from memberships, partnerships, and consulting. Over the last decade, Impact Hub Vienna has supported hundreds of impact innovators. It emphasizes cross-border collaboration too – many ventures it accelerates tackle problems applicable across Central/Eastern Europe. For example, its “Climate Ventures” program (with Climate-KIC) has cohorts from multiple countries. By providing a nurturing home for impact startups, Impact Hub Vienna has solidified Vienna’s status as a hub for social innovation. It demonstrates that entrepreneurial solutions to societal issues – whether in climate, inclusion, or education – can be scaled successfully with the right support network.
Innovation HubImpactClimateMobilityHealthcare
INKEF Capital
Amsterdam, Netherlands · AcceleratorLaunched 2010 with backing from Dutch pension fund APG. Early-stage investor in healthcare and enterprise software.
AcceleratorSeries AHealthcareEnterprise SoftwareFintech
Innogest Capital
Turin & Milan, Italy · AcceleratorFounded 2007. Early-stage fund investing in technology and life sciences with parallel focus on digital, IoT, and healthcare.
AcceleratorSeries ATechnologyIoTLife SciencesHealthcare
mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit Europe 2026
Berlin, Germany · EventDedicated summit for mRNA-based therapeutics, focusing on R&D, manufacturing, and clinical applications in Europe.
EventEventsBioTechPharmaHealthcare
Novo Holdings
Hellerup, Denmark · Venture CapitalNovo Holdings is the investment arm of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the largest life science investor in Denmark. It backs biotech, medtech, and health innovation across seed, venture, and growth stages while also managing the foundation's long term ownership in Novo Nordisk and Novozymes. The firm provides patient capital, deep scientific expertise, and global networks for founders building therapies, diagnostics, and industrial biotech solutions. Novo Holdings is a cornerstone of the Danish life science ecosystem.
Venture CapitalSeed to GrowthBiotechLife ScienceHealthcare
Predicting Health
Graz, Austria · StartupPredicting Health develops AI-based clinical risk prediction tools that analyze patient data to support early intervention and improve care quality. The company is a spin-off from the KAGes Data Science Team in Graz and operates in the same category as platforms like PIPRA.
StartupEarly StageHealthcareAIHealthTech
RobotDreams
Graz, Austria · StartupRobotDreams develops AI diagnostics software that analyzes blood data to accelerate detection of acute conditions such as acute coronary syndrome, competing in AI-enabled in-vitro diagnostics.
StartupEarly StageHealthcareDiagnosticsAI
Roman Pałac
Warsaw, Poland · Angel InvestorBusiness Angel Debutant of the Year (2021) and former CEO of Gemini Polska as well as former president of PZU Życie. Roman transitioned from top-level corporate leadership into startup investing with a focus on business transformation and commercial execution. He primarily backs startups in healthcare, insurance, and business transformation, bringing operator-level support in sales strategy and scaling.
Angel InvestorSeed to Series AHealthcareInsuranceBusiness Transformation
Siemens Technology Accelerator
Munich, Germany · AcceleratorThe Siemens Technology Accelerator (STA) is a unique corporate accelerator program run by Siemens AG since 2001, aimed at spinning out non-core technologies from Siemens’ R&D into independent startups. Based in Munich, STA essentially identifies promising internal innovations (often developed at Siemens Corporate Technology labs) that don’t fit Siemens’ core business, and forms new ventures around them. STA provides seed funding, co-founding management, and access to Siemens’ infrastructure to these ventures, effectively acting as a venture builder. Over its history, the Siemens Technology Accelerator has spun out more than 12 companies across sectors like energy, industrial automation, healthcare, and materials. Notable spin-offs include MetisMotion (advanced actuators), Magazino (warehouse robotics – which STA helped early on), and Epiqo (a digital twin software). One high-profile case is Rethink Robotics GmbH: in 2020, STA helped relaunch assets of Rethink Robotics (the US cobot pioneer) in a joint venture, integrating it with Siemens technology. The typical STA project starts with identifying a tech with market potential. STA then recruits external entrepreneurs or Siemens intrapreneurs to lead the startup, develops a business plan, secures intellectual property rights (license or assign IP from Siemens to the newco), and provides initial funding (often low millions of euros). Siemens often remains a minority shareholder and provides pilot customers or manufacturing help. The time from project inception to an independent company launch is around 18–24 months. STA’s model addresses a common big-corporate problem: great inventions that don’t make it to market. By essentially incubating startups from within, Siemens both creates value from dormant IP and fosters innovation culture. Many STA spin-outs go on to raise venture capital or get acquired. For example, Ionity (an EV charging network) was seeded by Siemens’ STA and later became a major joint venture with automakers. The Siemens Technology Accelerator operates with a small specialized team and has won awards for corporate venturing. It serves as a best-practice example of how large industrial firms can proactively spin off new ventures rather than let R&D sit on a shelf. In essence, STA extends Siemens’ innovation beyond its core by unleashing startups that bring cutting-edge tech (like novel sensors, new materials, etc.) to the broader market.
AcceleratorEnergyIndustrialHealthcare
SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator
Leipzig, Germany · AcceleratorFounded 2014. Six-month program for entrepreneurial teams with coworking, mentoring, and technology partners; alumni include energy and healthcare startups. Support: mentorship, workspace, partner resources. Scope: Regional (East Germany).
AcceleratorGeneral TechEnergyHealthcare