BVP (Brightlands Venture Partners)

Great news from our portfolio company Nano4Imaging, just published in JACC: Basic to Translational Science. For the first time, a clinical research team has shown that stents can be placed in the pulmonary arteries using MRI guidance alone, with no X-rays involved. The work was done in an animal model and led by clinicians at Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University, alongside Nano4Imaging, Siemens Healthineers, Cook Medical and NuMED For Children, while using Medtronic stents. Children born with heart defects often need these procedures many times over their lives, and each one today is done under X-ray, exposing young patients to radiation that builds up over time. Doing it under MRI removes that radiation completely. What made it possible was visibility. Nano4Imaging's #EmeryGlide guidewire, the first FDA-cleared non-metallic MRI guidewire, and their #MagnaFy markers in NuMED balloon catheters let the team follow the devices and position the stent in real time inside the scanner. It's another step in #Nano4Imaging's effort to turn MRI into a full interventional platform. Congratulations to the whole team and partners behind this work. Full Press Release here: https://lnkd.in/dJ9MJG5F

A meaningful milestone for Matisse Pharmaceuticals B.V., a BVP portfolio company developing a first-in-class therapy for sepsis. The FDA has cleared the IND application for isupartob sodium, the company's lead compound, enabling the start of a Phase II clinical trial. Sepsis affects roughly 49 million people every year and is responsible for around 11 million deaths, yet no targeted therapy has ever made it through. Isupartob sodium neutralizes the extracellular histones that drive endothelial injury and organ failure, an upstream mechanism with the potential to change outcomes in critically ill patients. Congratulations to Marcel Jacobs, Kees Groen, and the entire Matisse team for advancing this program into mid-stage development. We are proud to support a company tackling one of the largest unmet needs in critical care medicine. Full Press Release here: https://lnkd.in/dQ9JBFBv

Tissue tethering is one of plastic surgery's most persistent post-procedure problems: fibrous bands that pull the skin downward after liposuction and similar interventions, often leaving patients with distorted results despite multiple revisions. Our portfolio company Aliform just won the Startup Pitch Competition at MedTech World North America 2026 with Celluleaf, a blunt dissection device designed to address exactly this challenge, and the first product of a broader platform aimed at minimally invasive procedures across dermatology and aesthetic surgery, the outcome of a five-year R&D journey now finding its place in the market. Already used by more than 10 surgeons across 15 clinical applications in the United States and Canada, with the first 20 sales completed last month. A well-deserved recognition for Victor Suturin, Alisa Suturin, and the entire Aliform team. Full article: https://lnkd.in/dXyh4MSx

Our agrifood vertical lead and founding partner of Rooted Kim de Boer will represent BVP (Brightlands Venture Partners) this week on the panel "Scaling for Impact: Turning Innovation into Global Transformation" at F&A Next 2026 in Wageningen. The panel session will focus a.o. on what is needed to unlock scale for agrifood innovation and how different actors across the ecosystem can work together more effectively. Kim will be joined by Gianpiero Menza, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Luis Sánchez Álvarez from the European Commission and Raymond Beimers from Invest International. The session is hosted by the CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP). Reach out to Kim to connect! #FANext2026 #AgrifoodInnovation #VentureCapital #ImpactInvesting #Rooted

Thank you to Luxinnovation GIE and Lena Mårtensson for hosting Pierpaolo Padula at the European Digital Healthtech Conference 2026, and for this thoughtful follow-up interview. A few of the threads we keep returning to at BVP when looking at early-stage healthtech: a genuinely underserved clinical need, a team with deep domain understanding, and a defensible answer to who (will) pay and why. On AI, our view is that it is an enabler rather than a thesis in itself; what matters is the uniqueness of the data, the model, and ultimately how the solution fits into the care pathway. Plenty more in the full piece 👉 https://lnkd.in/emDMY8MS #EDHC2026 #healthtech #digitalhealth

Half of men will lose their hair by 50. Their options today are limited: a hair transplant, or treatments that deliver limited results, often with side effects most men are unwilling to live with. Our portfolio company niostem just published a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial — the highest clinical evidence standard in the category — validating a true solution to baldness without drugs and without surgery. Published in Dermatology and Therapy Springer Nature , the trial evaluated niostem's Stem Cell Reactivation Technology (SCRT) in 81 men with male pattern baldness over six months. 30 minutes a day, at home. The results: ↗️ Significant increase in total hair density ↗️ Significant increase in terminal hair density ↗️ Significant increase in cumulative hair thickness ↗️ Zero serious adverse events Finally, there is rigorous clinical proof in the public domain that a true solution exists. This publication is a major crown on a decade of research at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing and at niostem — a testament to the dedication and perseverance of Carlos A. Chacón-Martínez, Christophe Ramstein and the entire team. Link to article and study: https://lnkd.in/etXrmpQh

Our colleague Carmel is opening her calendar for Café RAISE on May 12th, 15:00 -16:00 CEST. If you are a founder in HealthTech, MedTech or enabling technologies, approaching seed or Series A, this is a focused session to: ✅Pressure-test your thesis, traction story and round logic with an active Health VC ✅Get direct feedback on capital efficiency, valuation and exit math before going into your raise ✅Understand the BVP Health investment lens and where your company fits https://lnkd.in/eVTkkZfK

We are very pleased to announce that Roel van Wegberg has been promoted to Partner at BVP, as part of a planned leadership transition that builds on more than two decades of institutional venture investing at the firm. Roel joined BVP in 2024 as CFO and has since led the uplift of the firm's back-end platform, taking responsibility for fund operations, governance, investor reporting, and stakeholder management across all BVP-managed funds. He brings over fifteen years of experience in fund structuring, risk management, and investor relations, having previously helped launch and manage pan-European flagship funds at ING Real Estate (now CBRE Investment Management), and helped establish and manage a real estate investment boutique for the Generali Group. As Partner, Roel will continue to oversee the firm's operational and financial backbone, while taking on broader responsibility for BVP's institutional development and the launch of a new generation of thematic funds with pan-European ambition. We are excited to see him step into this role as we enter the next chapter of the firm, continuing to partner with ambitious founders across our investment verticals.

This week, Luc and Carmel will be attending Zero One Hundred Conferences. DM them through the 0100 app or Linkedin if you're around!

This Thursday, our colleague Carmel will be at Healthy Funding 2026 in Rotterdam. If you are a founder in the space, or someone working at the intersection of health and capital, reach out. #HealthyFunding #HealthTech #MedTech #VentureCapital #BVP https://lnkd.in/erVrnJvP