Canada’s life sciences sector will have a new player as a European fund opens an office in Montréal.
The news: AdBio Partners, a Paris-based early-stage life sciences VC fund backed by the French government and the European Union’s investment fund, announced on Tuesday that it’s expanding into Canada with a Montréal office.
AdBio also said it’s launching its third fund with a target size of 120 million euros ($193 million CAD), backed by 7 million euros ($11 million CAD) from Québec labour-sponsored fund Fonds de solidarité FTQ. In an email, partner Mounia Azzi told BetaKit she expects 20 percent of the fund to be invested outside of Europe, with a focus on Québec.
From the source: “The combination of outstanding academic science, experienced drug development talent, and a highly developed life-sciences sector makes Québec a strong fit with our model,” AdBio founder and chairman Alain Huriez said in a statement.
The context: Founded in 2016, AdBio focuses on early-stage biotechnology companies making therapeutics for health problems in oncology, immunology, and rare diseases. It also has a “hands-on” approach of providing seed capital while helping with company building. The Montréal office, led by Azzi and venture partner Didier Leconte, would be its first outside of Paris and Barcelona.
The life sciences sector in Canada has seen a funding crunch in recent years: according to the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association’s annual report, the sector saw just $837 million invested in 2025—the lowest annual amount in the sector since 2018. In the first half of this year, deal activity dropped by 39 percent compared to the same period last year.
Final thought: AdBio is framing its expansion into Canada as an opportunity to build a bridge between the country and Europe—coinciding with the Canadian government’s ongoing campaign to bring in new foreign investment (and reduce reliance on the US). In addition to potentially securing “associate member” status with the European Union, it appears that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s overall strategy may be helping to attract new European capital.
Feature image courtesy Lars Born under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 2.0.