At Sofinnova Partners, the MD Start fund has a unique feature: the investors themselves often take the lead in launching and managing the startups they fund. Anne Osdoit, a partner at Sofinnova Partners, is a prime example—she serves as the CEO of Moon Surgical, a medical technology company, since its inception. The fourth-generation fund, MD Start IV, recently completed its final fundraising round at 82 million euros, surpassing the 63 million euros raised for MD Start III. The fund was oversubscribed, meaning more money was raised than initially expected, though Sofinnova Partners does not publicly disclose its original target. Over the next five years, the fund plans to launch between six and eight new companies across Europe and the United States. The 30% increase in the fund’s size does not reflect a change in the investment strategy or a need for more capital at the startup stage. “We aim to invest in the same number of companies as with MD Start III,” explains Anne Osdoit. “The number of startups remains the same, but we are allocating more money to each.” The team's goal is to support its startups for a longer period after the initial launch. “The first two funds were limited to seed funding, and it was necessary to find new investors to cover the entire Series A round,” Osdoit notes. MD Start III introduced a reserve for Series A funding, and to a lesser extent, Series B. “Moon Surgical benefited from this, but the fund was not able to invest in Series B,” she explains. MD Start IV will focus on Series A and B funding, and possibly beyond. The fund has already begun deploying its capital, though no official investments have been announced yet. The success of the existing portfolio companies helped attract new investors. The six companies funded by MD Start III have raised more than 140 million euros in additional capital. For example, LimFlow was acquired by Inari Medical for a potential value of up to 415 million dollars, and CorWave secured 100 million euros in funding. BrightHeart, a company using artificial intelligence for prenatal cardiac screening, has received both FDA approvals and CE marking. Moon Surgical’s robotic system, Maestro, has already been used to treat more than 3,700 patients. “Most of the investors are long-time backers who were approached before new investors joined,” Osdoit says. Alongside major institutional investors, the fund also includes co-investors from the medical technology industry, potential acquirers of the portfolio companies, healthcare institutions, preclinical laboratories, and entrepreneurs within the sector. “For most of them, their involvement goes beyond just the money they invest,” she adds. To allow the fund’s team more time to focus on future investments, several companies from MD Start III have recently appointed new CEOs. This move enables the team at Sofinnova Partners to maintain a hands-on role in future startups while ensuring the existing companies have strong leadership. The overall strategy reflects a long-term vision of supporting innovation in medical technology, with a focus on sustainable growth and strategic investment.