BRIEF—New 600 million-euro investment in Merck venture fund

Germany’s Merck KGaA today announced the expansion of its strategic, corporate venture capital arm M Ventures.

The new investment of 600 million euros ($675 million) allocated to M Ventures will be deployed over the next five years.

This is the third increase in financial commitment announced by Merck since the creation of M Ventures in 2009. The increase will be used to further grow both the number and size of investments.

“Over the past decade, M Ventures has established itself globally as a leading partner to the biotech and tech venture ecosystems,” said Belén Garijo, chairwoman of the executive board and chief executive of Merck.

“Given its extensive expertise in identifying new technologies and capabilities, we aim to increase our annual financial investments. This will enable M Ventures to continue to advance our pioneering innovation strategy, to deliver sustainable business performance and to be a catalyst for innovative companies to develop breakthrough technologies,” she added.

Since inception,  M Ventures has been instrumental in the development of over 80 global companies from creation to exit, helping advance multiple medicines and technologies to market launch, Merck noted.