Sound Bioventures Research
Investment Thesis
Sound Bioventures is a Scandinavian venture capital firm investing in about-to-be clinical and clinical stage private biotech companies in Europe and the USA that are developing novel medicines for significant unmet medical needs. The firm's capital is meant to answer the question "Is there a drug that works here?", so it targets companies about to enter the most value-generating phase of drug development. All modalities and therapeutic areas are in scope as long as the medicine is novel. Incremental innovation and pure regulatory or pricing stories are out of scope, as are medical devices, digital health and diagnostics.
Stage Focus
The firm invests where the financing will produce a clinical readout for the lead asset. It can invest in any private round regardless of its Series label, and platform companies are attractive as long as the lead asset reaches a clinical readout. Portfolio companies range from preclinical (Teitur, Cytospire) to clinical stage (VarmX, AnaCardio, Breye, Theolytics, Artax, NephroDI, Aboleris, BOOST Pharma, Arthex).
Check Size
The firm does not publish check sizes. Fund I closed at EUR 116M in total commitments and holds roughly ten to eleven companies, which implies initial checks in the low-to-mid single-digit millions of euros with reserves held for follow-ons. The firm states it always reserves capital for future raises and will not invest where it cannot.
Lead Tendency
The firm says it can lead, co-lead or follow, and almost always takes a board seat. It emphasizes aligning with fellow investors' interests. Recent rounds show it acting as a syndicate member alongside Novo Holdings, Mission BioCapital, Industrifonden, Pureos Bioventures and Flerie.
Recent Activity
- September 2026: participated in Breye Therapeutics' EUR 67.5M Series A, co-led by Mission BioCapital and Novo Holdings.
- September 2026: existing investor in AnaCardio's EUR 62.5M Series B, co-led by Novo Holdings and the Ljungstrom family office.
- November 2025: Fund I's latest new investment, BOOST Pharma (per PitchBook).
- Fund II was registered in Sweden in April 2025. EIFO (Denmark) committed DKK 150M, and Novo Holdings reinvested in the new fund. The firm also added senior hires from Novo Nordisk and Karolinska Development.
- Portfolio news: VarmX enrolled the first participant in its global Phase 3 trial of VMX-C001 and partnered with CSL; Teitur reported positive Phase I results for TT-P34 in Parkinson's disease; Breye published in Science Translational Medicine.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio has 11 companies: Aboleris Pharma (immune tolerance), AnaCardio (heart failure), Artax Biopharma (autoimmune disease), ARTHEx Biotech (microRNA modulation), BOOST Pharma (cell therapy for rare pediatric skeletal disease), Breye Therapeutics (ophthalmology, danegaptide), Cytospire Therapeutics (gamma delta T cell engagers), NephroDI (nephrogenic diabetes insipidus), Teitur Trophics (neurodegeneration), Theolytics (oncolytic viruses) and VarmX (DOAC reversal agent). The most visible outcome is VarmX's multi-hundred-million-euro CSL Behring partnership.
Team
- Casper Breum, Managing Partner (Danish co-founder)
- Johan Kördel, Managing Partner (Swedish co-founder, Ph.D.)
- Ester Sklarsky, Principal
- Linda Spahiu Elvesjö, Principal (Ph.D.)
- Laura Munck, Analyst
- Alexander Kielland, COO
- Anne Marie Simon, Office Manager
The founding team worked together for about 15 years before forming the firm.
Decision Process
Partnership-led by the two managing partners. The firm is a registered alternative investment fund manager under the Swedish AIFM Act. Proposals are accepted through a form on the site.
Founder Preferences
Companies with strong science and a financing path that a private investor or venture syndicate can fund to regulatory approval. Values stated: decent, dedicated, confident, humble. Co-investors are described as straightforward, transparent and long-term oriented.
Geographic Focus
Europe and the United States, with particular emphasis on companies with Scandinavian roots, often built in the Swedish and Danish ecosystem (Medicon Valley). Offices in Malmö and Stockholm, Sweden, and Hellerup, Denmark.