Philips joins ehealth venture fund

Royal Philips Electronics has announced that it has joined a new, €200m venture capital fund for innovative early and growth stage healthcare technology companies in Europe and the US.

Philips says it is investing in Gilde Healthcare III in order to foster innovation in areas of strategic interest to its healthcare business.

It says it believes that the most effective way to deploy venture capital is through an independent fund that can use the expertise of professional fund managers and other investors.

Steve Rusckowski, chief executive officer of Philips Healthcare, said: “The venturing community has been instrumental in bringing breakthrough healthcare innovations to the market.

“Through our participation in the Gilde Healthcare III venture capital fund, we are taking another step forward in driving innovation in areas of strategic interest to Philips in healthcare.

“At the same time, we will become even more connected to the venturing community, which is an important element of Philips’ open innovation’ approach.”

The fund will be managed by Gilde Healthcare Partners, a Dutch venture and growth capital firm that currently has more than €300m under management.

Some of the key areas that it will focus on are home healthcare solutions, sleep improvement techniques, image-guided interventions/therapies and clinical decision support, with particular emphasis on cardiology, oncology and women’s health.

Philips will become one of the Gilde Healthcare III’s anchor investors and will hold a minority share. However, the Gilde will be fully independent of Philips’ existing innovation efforts.