Philips invests in Dutch healthcare technology venture capital fund
17 August 2010
Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is joining
Gilde Healthcare III, a new venture capital fund focusing on innovative
early and growth stage healthcare technology companies in Europe and the
USA. The areas to be targeted are new patient-centric healthcare
solutions, medical technologies and therapeutics.
As a global leader in health and well-being, Philips is investing
in Gilde Healthcare III to foster innovation in areas of strategic
interest to its healthcare business. The investment is in line with
its policy of open innovation and its belief that the most effective
way to deploy venture capital is via an independent fund that can
leverage the expertise of a professional fund manager and the other
investors in the fund. Gilde Healthcare III will be fully
independent of, and complementary to Philips’ existing innovation
efforts, including the Philips Healthcare Incubator.
“Over the past years the venturing community has been
instrumental in bringing breakthrough healthcare innovations to the
market,” said Steve Rusckowski, CEO of Philips Healthcare. “Through
our participation in the Gilde Healthcare III venture capital fund,
we are taking another step forward in driving innovation in areas of
strategic interest to Philips in healthcare. At the same time we
will become even more connected to the venturing community, which is
an important element of Philips’ open innovation approach.”
As one of the fund’s anchor investors, Philips has contributed to
shaping part of the fund’s innovative scope. Patient-centric
healthcare is an emerging approach to healthcare delivery that
focuses on the patient experience as well as on improved clinical
outcomes. Within this value space, the Gilde Healthcare III fund
will focus on home healthcare solutions, sleep improvement
techniques, image-guided interventions/therapies and clinical
decision support, with particular emphasis on cardiology, oncology
and women’s health.
Philips holds a minority share in the fund and it is being joined
by additional institutional financial investors. The Gilde
Healthcare III fund has a target size of €200
million (US$250 million). It will be managed by Gilde Healthcare
Partners, a Dutch venture and growth capital firm that currently has
more than €300 million under management.