New Swedish VC fund finally makes its first investment
Stockholm-based deep tech investor Trio Impact Invest has finally made it's first investment, after it struggled for two years to secure co-financing for its first fund.
Over two years ago, a budding venture capital firm from Sweden won a government tender to invest over €6.3m of public money into deep tech companies.
The money, issued on behalf of the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, would anchor the first fund of Trio Impact invest.
The firm was launched by Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet, and KTH Ventures with the ambition to get more research-intensive deeptech ideas to lift from lab to company – but to realise that ambition it needed co-financing, which proved easier said than done.
As Impact Loop previously reported, years after Trio won the tender, it had not raised enough co-financing and no investments had yet been made.
In September, the news finally broke that they had finally reached their goal, with an initial closing of around €10m.
Now Impact Loop can reveal that Trio has made its first investment.
Healthtech bet
Now Impact Loop can announce that it is time for the next milestone: Trio has made its first investment.
The investment, which equals SEK 5 million (€468K) according to information provided to Impact Loop, goes to Swedish AAX Biotech. It is a company that builds tools to make the development of antibody-based drugs faster and more accurate.
The idea is that the technology – in the form of a pair of platforms – will help pharmaceutical companies get a clearer picture of where antibodies attach. This will in turn make it easier to select and fine-tune the right candidates early in the process when developing a new drug.
"We are very excited to make our first investment from Trio in AAX Biotech and support a team whose enabling technology can improve how antibody-based drugs are discovered and optimised," says Siimon Vaske , CEO of Trio Impact Invest, in a press release.
The CEO of AAX Biotech, Daniel X Johansson , describes the investment as a puzzle piece for the company's next phase.
"With Trio's support, we can accelerate key technical milestones, deepen validation with partners, and broaden the impact of our platforms in antibody discovery and development," he says in a comment.
The company previously raised SEK 6.9m (€646K) in 2024 at a valuation of SEK 35 million (€3.2m) pre-money.
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