Spain’s largest life sciences VC just moved into territory it had never formally entered before. Ysios Capital, a Barcelona and San Sebastián based firm with more than €400M in assets under management, launched InceptionBio, a new fund with a target size of €100 million focused on BioTech company creation and early stage project development. This is the firm’s fourth fund, and its first one fully dedicated to the very beginning of a BioTech company’s life.
The launch of InceptionBio marks the first time Ysios has specifically structured a €100 million vehicle around the company creation stage, a gap in Spain’s life sciences funding landscape that the firm has identified as a structural necessity if the country’s research output is to translate into durable commercial entities rather than licensing deals or early exits.
Spain’s Research Gap Gets Addressed:
Spanish universities and research centres have produced strong biomedical science for decades. The problem has always been what happens next. InceptionBio’s strategy involves creating new companies based on scientific assets from universities and research centres, while also identifying and attracting international assets that can be developed in Spain.
The fund has already completed its first closing, with participation from the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (CDTI) through its SICC Innvierte programme, which supports investment in high potential innovative companies. CDTI’s anchor participation signals strong institutional confidence in the fund’s structure and direction.
The Team Behind the Fund:
Leadership matters here. InceptionBio will be led by Joan Perelló, who joined Ysios as a Venture Partner in 2022 and has now been appointed Managing Partner, and Arturo Urrios, who joins as Partner from a background spanning Wellington Partners, M Ventures, Merck’s corporate venture arm, and the founding team of Seamless Therapeutics.
Perelló brings operational weight: he co-founded Sanifit, a Palma based renal disease BioTech that raised over €140 million in equity before being acquired by Vifor Pharma for €375 million. That kind of founder to exit experience is exactly what early stage company builders need access to when they are still figuring out their first hires and first clinical hypothesis.
Arturo Urrios holds a degree in Human Biology with honours, a Master’s in Biomedical Research, an MBA, and a PhD in Biomedicine. He brings experience in venture capital, biomedical innovation, and company creation, having worked at Wellington Partners and M Ventures. He was also part of the founding team at Seamless Therapeutics, where he helped secure a strategic collaboration with Lilly.
What InceptionBio Actually Does:
This is not a fund that writes cheques into companies someone else built. InceptionBio will focus on identifying, developing, and building new companies around high quality science, with a particular focus on Spain. The new fund will primarily invest in technology transfer opportunities and early stage companies.
The model is hands on from day one. Ysios brings not just capital but operational support, scientific evaluation, and its established network across European BioTech. The fund currently has a pipeline of investment opportunities under advanced review and aims to support the creation of at least three new BioTech companies in 2026.
For founders and researchers reading this, that pipeline detail matters. It means InceptionBio is not starting from a blank slate. If you are in a Spanish university lab or research centre with a promising therapeutic asset, this fund is worth understanding as a potential path to company formation. You can explore more about the Spanish BioTech funding landscape in our coverage of European VC trends.
Ysios Capital’s Track Record:
Ysios Capital has invested in more than 40 BioTech companies and has completed six NASDAQ exits and multiple M&A transactions. Its portfolio includes names like Ona Therapeutics, SpliceBio, and Minoryx Therapeutics. The firm has participated in major Spanish BioTech transactions, including Takeda’s acquisition of Tigenix at €450 million, Qiagen’s purchase of STAT Diagnostica at €172 million, and Vifor Pharma’s Sanifit acquisition at €375 million.
That track record is the foundation InceptionBio is built on. The firm knows what it takes to build a BioTech company from early scientific assets because it has done it repeatedly across different therapeutic areas and geographies.
What This Means for European BioTech:
InceptionBio was created to connect science, entrepreneurship, and investment, working closely with both the public and private sectors to accelerate company creation across Europe, with a clear focus on Spain. The fund is not trying to replace Europe’s broader VC ecosystem. It is filling in the earliest layer, the stage before most institutional funds are willing to engage.
For startup founders and operators who follow European life sciences, InceptionBio is a practical example of what happens when a firm with real exits decides to go earlier. You can also read our coverage of other European VC firms actively building the pre seed and seed layer of the BioTech stack.
Spain now has a dedicated, institutional grade vehicle for the moment when research becomes a company. Inception Bio is where that process starts.
