Sofinnova Places an €82 Million Bet on Medtech Creation

Sofinnova Partners closed Sofinnova MD Start IV at €82 million ($93 million) on September 28, 2026. The oversubscribed fund will found six to eight medtech companies across Europe and the United States over five years.

The extra size is a reserve to stay in those companies through later rounds, after MD Start III’s six companies raised more than €140 million in follow-on financing.

Partners Will Put More Capital in Each New Company

The Paris, London and Milan firm announced the final close at €82 million as a company-creation vehicle, not a classic seed cheque book. Anne Osdoit, a partner who also runs Moon Surgical as chief executive, said the team intends to back the same number of companies as MD Start III and to put more money into each line.

The first two MD Start funds stopped at seed, she said, and the firm then had to recruit new investors to fill entire Series A rounds. MD Start III added a reserve for Series A and, at the margin, Series B. Moon Surgical used that reserve, though the fund could not join the Series B. MD Start IV is meant to cover Series A and B, and further if needed. The vehicle is about 30 percent larger than the €63 million predecessor and has already started to deploy, with no new company named yet.

MD START IV IN BRIEF

• The close: €82 million, oversubscribed, announced on September 28, 2026.
• The plan: Found six to eight medtech companies in Europe and the United States over five years.
• The change: More capital per company so the fund can stay in through later rounds.
• The firm: Founded in 1972, Sofinnova now manages over €4 billion and has backed over 500 companies.

That is a small pot by late-stage U.S. device standards, and it is aimed at firms that do not exist yet. The public conversation around the close treated the money as a factory for new companies, not a war chest for deals already in market.

We've closed Sofinnova Partners MD Start IV at €82 million. Oversubscribed, and ready to invest in six to eight new medtech companies over the next five years.
Our approach is rooted in partnership with clinicians and scientists. https://t.co/OCLEb1bY9N pic.twitter.com/Z9ta93Pdjc

— Sofinnova Partners (@SofinnovaVC) September 28, 2026

Sofinnova MD Start is one of the few strategies in Europe focused on creating medtech companies from the ground up. What makes the model distinctive is the active role our team plays in building and supporting every company from day one. This latest fund will allow us to scale that approach and remain a key part of Sofinnova’s platform across the life sciences value chain.

Antoine Papiernik, Chairman and Managing Partner, Sofinnova Partners

Osdoit thanked existing and new limited partners in the same release and said their backing reflects confidence in a model that puts the investment team inside the companies from day one.

LimFlow’s $415 Million Sale Still Anchors the Pitch

Limited partners are being asked to underwrite a method that has already produced two U.S. device sales. LimFlow, incubated by MD Start and co-founded by Dr. Martin Rothman and Tim Lenihan, agreed in November 2023 to be bought by Inari Medical for $250 million in cash plus up to $165 million in commercial and reimbursement milestones, a package of up to $415 million.

The deal was announced on November 1, 2023, weeks after the LimFlow System won FDA approval in September 2023 for transcatheter arterialization of the deep veins in no-option chronic limb-threatening ischemia. Sofinnova appeared on the investor list through its Crossover Strategy. Inari completed the purchase later that month.

Abiomed acquired preCARDIA in June 2021. The Minnesota company, also incubated by MD Start, had built a balloon catheter meant to unload volume in acute decompensated heart failure. Abiomed did not disclose the price.

Those two exits sit behind the follow-on math that matters for Fund IV. MD Start III put €63 million into six companies that later raised more than €140 million from other investors, more than twice the fund that first backed them. CorWave, still private, has raised more than €100 million on its own.

Moon Surgical and BrightHeart Are Still Being Built

The live book is the other half of the wager, because the same partners who will found the next batch still run, or recently ran, the companies already in clinic. Moon Surgical began in June 2020 as a Sofinnova MD Start incubation around a laparoscopic assistant designed by Professor Brice Gayet, with Osdoit as chief executive. The Maestro system from seed onward raised $31.3 million in Series A in May 2022 and $55.4 million in Series B in May 2023, a round led by Sofinnova Partners and NVIDIA.

Maestro has FDA and CE Mark clearance. Sofinnova said it has been used to treat more than 3,700 patients. In July 2026 Moon Surgical announced a commercial collaboration with KARL STORZ, pairing Maestro with that group’s visualization and operating-room tools.

BrightHeart, a Paris prenatal-ultrasound software company built with fetal cardiologists Dr. Marilyne Levy and Dr. Bertrand Stos, closed €11 million Series A financing on January 8, 2026. Founding investor Sofinnova Partners joined Odyssée Venture and GO Capital. Cécile Dupont, a Sofinnova partner, served as BrightHeart’s chief executive when the first FDA clearance arrived in November 2024. The company said at the Series A that it held five FDA clearances, and it added a CE mark on June 24, 2026.

THE MD START NAMES IN THE PITCH

The wider MD Start roster runs to a dozen names. Endoron Medical, Gradient Denervation Technologies, HEPTA Medical, Julier Medical, May Health, SafeHeal and Tulyp Medical sit on the same strategy page as the five firms above.

Returning Backers Brought in Hospitals and Device Makers

Osdoit said most subscribers are historical limited partners who were asked in for a first close before new names arrived. Beside large institutions sit medtech manufacturers that may co-invest or buy, plus hospitals, preclinical laboratories and entrepreneurs from the sector.

WHO IS ON THE CAP TABLE BESIDE THE CHECK

• Returning funds: Historical limited partners filled the first close before new subscribers were added.
• Device makers: Industrials that can co-invest and, later, acquire portfolio companies.
• Care sites: Hospitals and preclinical laboratories that also act as operating resources.
• Operators: Sector entrepreneurs asked to advise the companies, not only to subscribe.

For most of those backers, she said, the value is the operating help as much as the money. The raise did not disclose a target, a subscriber list, or a count of limited partners. Capital is being raised from people who can sit in the operating room, the lab, or the buyer’s seat when a company needs them.

Four Funds Grew From €8.2 Million to €82 Million

The close sits on four MD Start funds since 2008. Sofinnova describes MD Start as an in-house accelerator that starts from a clinical need and then hunts for technology, rather than the reverse. The firm said the new vehicle extends a 20-year company-creation record and a dedicated medtech building effort of more than a decade.

THE MD START FUND SEQUENCE

1. 2008: MD Start I closes at €8.2 million.
2. 2015: MD Start II closes at €10.3 million.
3. 2019: Sofinnova MD Start III closes at €63 million and later backs six companies.
4. June 1, 2021: Abiomed buys preCARDIA, a company incubated by MD Start.
5. November 2023: Inari Medical buys LimFlow for up to $415 million.
6. September 28, 2026: Sofinnova MD Start IV closes at €82 million.

Partners Anne Osdoit, Cécile Dupont and Mano Iyer lead the effort, with principal Marion Gasperment, analyst Jérémie Wisniewski, and venture partners Gérard Hascoët and Josh Makower. The money is modest next to Sofinnova’s wider platform. The test is whether a small, operator-heavy team can mint another LimFlow or another Maestro without having to give away the Series A.

Who Takes the CEO Seat in the Next Batch?

The operating load is the constraint the new capital is supposed to ease. Osdoit has been chief executive of Moon Surgical since the company was formed. Dupont held that title at BrightHeart while remaining a Sofinnova partner. Several MD Start III companies have recently named new chief executives so the investment team can take the helm of the next set of firms. Sofinnova said on September 24, 2026, that Julier Medical appointed Will Martin as president and chief executive, four days before the Fund IV close.

MD Start IV will still ask those partners to build companies with engineers, clinicians and scientists, then walk them through clinical and operating milestones. If the allocation holds, six to eight new firms will get both a founding cheque and a later-round reserve that the €8.2 million and €10.3 million vehicles never had. The fund has begun to deploy and has not yet named a first new company.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Does the LimFlow System Treat Threatened Limbs?

The LimFlow System is designed to bypass blocked arteries in the leg and send oxygenated blood into the foot through the veins, a procedure called transcatheter arterialization of the deep veins, for patients facing major amputation with no other endovascular or surgical option. In the PROMISE II study cited at the time of the Inari deal, 76 percent of those no-option patients kept their leg and saw progressive wound healing. The device received a CE Mark in October 2016, Breakthrough Device Designation, and FDA approval in September 2023.

What Did BrightHeart Show in Its Fetal Heart Studies?

In a standalone validation of 877 examinations against an expert cardiologist standard, BrightHeart said its software identified findings tied to severe defects with 98.7 percent sensitivity and 97.7 percent specificity among conclusive exams, and returned a result in 98.7 percent of cases. The company has published peer-reviewed work in Obstetrics & Gynecology and sells into routine prenatal ultrasound workflows, including through GE HealthCare’s Voluson Solution Store.

What Device Did Abiomed Buy From preCARDIA?

preCARDIA’s product is a proprietary balloon catheter and pump controller placed in the superior vena cava to unload volume in patients with acute decompensated heart failure. The company completed a 30-patient FDA early feasibility study that it said showed a drop in cardiac filling pressures and rapid diuresis, and the system held Breakthrough Device Designation at the time of the sale. Terms of the June 1, 2021 purchase were not disclosed, and the company was headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

How Was Moon Surgical Financed Before Maestro Reached Patients?

Moon Surgical, originally called MastOR, received seed funding and incubation from Sofinnova MD Start in June 2020. It then raised $31.3 million in Series A in May 2022 with GT Healthcare Capital & Partners and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and $55.4 million in Series B in May 2023. First-in-human work in 2022 included 50 procedures at CHU Saint-Pierre in Brussels, and a first FDA clearance for an early version arrived in December 2022, with a commercial-system clearance in June 2024.

Disclaimer: This article is news reporting and analysis of a venture-capital fund close and related portfolio companies. It is for information only and does not constitute investment, legal, or financial advice, a solicitation to invest in Sofinnova MD Start IV, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or fund interest. Readers considering an allocation to private funds or medtech companies should consult a qualified financial adviser and, where relevant, legal counsel licensed to advise on private-market investments. Figures, deal terms, regulatory statuses, and deployment plans reflect the cited company statements and may change as new financings, sales, or clearances are announced.