Dirk Kersten Joins Forbion as General Partner

Dirk is currently responsible for the life sciences investment activities at Inkef Capital as a member of its Leadership Team and Investment Committee.

Dirk brings a wealth of transaction experience to Forbion, as well as a deep sector knowledge and network from over 16 years of life sciences industry experience. As Managing Director at Inkef Capital, Dirk was closely involved in expanding Inkef’s assets under management to EUR 500M and building a team of over 15 investment professionals and seasoned industry advisors.

Prior to Inkef Capital, Dirk was a Partner at Gilde Healthcare Partners where he led a series of successful investments in biopharmaceutical and medtech companies across Europe and in the US. At Gilde, Dirk was responsible for pioneering their US investment activities and managed their Boston office for several years. Dirk holds a Master’s of Science in Physics from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

“We are very pleased that Dirk will be joining our team. His professional experience and contacts will be invaluable in helping us continue to invest in the most promising European life sciences companies and building new biotech companies, like Dezima Pharma, Staten Biotech and NorthSea Therapeutics”, commented Sander Slootweg, Managing Partner at Forbion.

Dirk Kersten added: “I am very pleased to join one of the leading life sciences venture capital firms in Europe with clear ambitions to be a truly global player. From my experience, Forbion is one of few firms in Europe that operates on a level playing field with the leading US venture capital firms. Besides investing in, and building exciting new biotech companies, I look forward to working with the rest of the Forbion team to develop new areas of strategic focus for the future.”

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Notes to Editors

About Forbion
Forbion is a dedicated life sciences venture capital firm with offices in The Netherlands and Germany. Forbion invests in life sciences companies that are active in the (bio)pharmaceutical, as well as the medical device space. Forbion’s investment team has built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with successful investments in over 50 companies. Forbion manages well over EUR 800 million across nine funds. Its investors include the EIF, through its European Recovery Programme (ERP), LfA and Dutch Venture Initiative (DVI) facilities and the KFW through the ERP – Venture Capital Fondsfinanzierung facility. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early stage funds focused on Benelux and Germany. www.forbion.com

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