Hadean Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Hadean Ventures is a European venture capital fund manager headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a second office at the Karolinska Institute Science Park in Stockholm, Sweden. The firm has over EUR 230 million in assets under management and a strong foundation and track record in life sciences. Hadean invests in companies developing new therapies, diagnostics, and technologies that address significant unmet medical needs, aiming to generate strong returns while making a meaningful impact. The firm positions itself as "a European partner for science-driven innovation," backing solutions to complex, real-world healthcare challenges.
Sector Focus
Hadean is a specialist life-science and healthcare investor. The portfolio spans:
- Biopharmaceuticals and drug development (oncology, rare disease, RNA therapeutics, immunology, cardiovascular)
- Radiopharmaceuticals and targeted radionuclide therapies
- Gene therapy and synthetic biology (DNA synthesis platforms)
- Medical devices (transcatheter valve repair, advanced ultrasound)
- Diagnostics (liquid biopsy, molecular residual disease monitoring)
- Digital health and AI-powered health technologies (digital therapeutics, seizure monitoring)
They explicitly frame their approach around unmet medical need and scientific rigor rather than sector breadth for its own sake.
Stage Focus
Hadean invests across stages from early Series A through growth-stage financings, and often continues to support companies through multiple rounds (Series A, B, C) and eventual exit or IPO. They are comfortable leading rounds at Series A/B and also participating alongside syndicate partners in later growth rounds.
Check Size
Check sizes are not explicitly published, but observed lead and co-lead investments range from roughly EUR/USD 2M (early seed-style investments such as Neuro Event Labs' early rounds) up to EUR 40M+ lead positions in Series A2/growth rounds (e.g., TargED's €40.4M Series A2, Kasvu Therapeutics' €30M Series A). This is consistent with a fund of Hadean's ~EUR 230M AUM size deploying meaningful ownership stakes in a concentrated portfolio.
Lead Tendency
Hadean frequently leads or co-leads financing rounds for its portfolio companies — for example, leading Kasvu Therapeutics' €30M Series A (September 2026), leading Gesynta Pharma's SEK 190M round, and taking board seats (director or observer) at multiple portfolio companies.
Recent Activity
Hadean has been actively deploying and remains highly engaged with its existing portfolio through 2026:
- September 2026: Led Kasvu Therapeutics' €30M Series A for a novel TrkB potentiator targeting neuropsychiatric disorders
- June 2026: Led TargED Biopharmaceuticals' €40.4M Series A2 for its targeted thrombolytic TGD001
- Multiple 2025–2026 clinical milestones across Complement Therapeutics, Oncoinvent, Gesynta Pharma, Neuro Event Labs, and TargED
- Fund II ("Hadean Capital II") announced its oversubscribed final close in December 2023, following a first closing of EUR 90M in September 2021
Portfolio Highlights
Hadean's portfolio includes several notable exits and public-market outcomes:
- Abliva — Swedish mitochondrial disease drug developer, acquired by Pharming (2025)
- Cardior Pharmaceuticals — RNA therapeutics for cardiac disease, acquired by Novo Nordisk (March 2024, for up to ~€1bn per team bios)
- Themis Bioscience — Vaccine developer, acquired by MSD (May 2020)
- SAGA Diagnostics — Liquid biopsy/MRD diagnostics company, acquired by Roche/Foundation Medicine (2026), Medicare-covered Pathlight™ test
- Galecto — Fibrosis/oncology drug developer, completed IPO (2020)
- Contineum Therapeutics — Neurology/inflammation therapeutics, Nasdaq IPO (2024, per team bios)
- Emergence Therapeutics — Nectin-4 ADC oncology company (per team bios, acquired by Eli Lilly in 2023)
Active portfolio companies span oncology (Actithera, Oncoinvent, Step Pharma, TargED), rare disease and RNA medicine (ARTHEx Biotech, Attgeno), cardiovascular devices (CardioMech), immunology (SciRhom), women's health (Gesynta Pharma), digital health/AI (Alex Therapeutics, Neuro Event Labs), neurology devices (Nisonic), gene therapy tooling (Ribbon Bio), and ophthalmology (Complement Therapeutics).
Team
- Ingrid Teigland Akay, Managing Partner — Medical doctor (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover) and MBA (London Business School); founder-level investor with clinical background across general medicine, surgery, and psychiatry
- Walter Stockinger, Managing Partner — PhD in biochemistry (University of Vienna), former Harvard research fellow, ex-BCG healthcare consultant, prior specialist healthcare VC experience since 2009
- Roger Franklin, Partner — PhD from Cambridge's Laboratory of Molecular Biology; leads Stockholm office; sits/has sat on boards of Emergence Therapeutics, Cardior, Contineum, Abliva, Step Pharma, TargED, Gesynta Pharma, Complement Therapeutics
- Georgina Askeland, Principal — PhD in molecular biology (UCL/University of Oslo), MBA (Quantic), joined as Investment Analyst in 2020
- Additional investment team: Miao He and Markus Dietrich (Senior Investment Associates), Yun Yang (Investment Associate), Markèta Chlubnovà (Investment Analyst)
- Operations/support: Camilla Olsen (Impact & ESG Manager), Paal August Nordhagen (Director of Finance & Controlling), Vilde Fredheim (Director, Investor Relations & Business Development), Silje C. L. Ervik (Head of Legal), Pål R. Jensen (Senior Advisor Operations), Lene Dragesund (Senior Office Manager)
- Venture Partners and Senior Advisors: Lene Gerlach, Nora Kaarela, Reinhard Krickl (Venture Partners), Florian Eckhardt (Senior Advisor)
Decision Process
Hadean operates as a partnership with two Managing Partners (Ingrid Teigland Akay and Walter Stockinger) plus a dedicated Partner (Roger Franklin) leading sector coverage, supported by a broader investment team (Principal, Senior Investment Associates, Associates, Analyst) and venture/senior advisors who contribute scientific and operational expertise. Active board participation (director or observer roles) is a stated part of their approach.
Founder Preferences
Given the concentration in biopharma, diagnostics, and medical devices, Hadean favors scientifically and clinically credible founding teams — often academic spin-outs or teams with strong translational/clinical development experience — building solutions for well-defined unmet medical needs.
Geographic Focus
Primarily European life-science companies (Nordics — Norway, Sweden, Finland — Germany, Spain, Austria), with selective investments in the US (Contineum Therapeutics, San Diego). Hadean is a member of Invest Europe, NVCA (Norway), Level20, and the Kvinner i Finans Charter, and participates in the Life Science VC Sustainability Initiative.
Fund Status
Hadean Capital II held its oversubscribed final close in December 2023 (first closing of EUR 90M in September 2021). Investor base is ~43% funds-of-funds, 27% family offices, 21% pension funds, 9% foundations, including government-backed investors Saminvest AB, Argentum, and Investinor. Based on continued 2026 deployment (Kasvu Therapeutics lead investment) and active portfolio-company financings, the fund is actively deploying.