British Business Bank commits €25 million to EQT life sciences fund

The British Business Bank has committed €25 million to EQT Life Sciences’ EQT Health Economics 3 Fund, adding public UK capital to a private fund focused on life sciences and medtech. The commitment matters because the Bank is using international specialist funds to push more capital and expertise toward UK life sciences companies, a sector named in the UK Industrial Strategy.

EQT HE3 is described as a multi-stage fund dedicated to life sciences and medtech. EQT Life Sciences invests across therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and healthtech. The new fund is targeting commercial-stage, de-risked medtech and digital health technologies, according to the firm.

The size of EQT HE3 was not disclosed. The British Business Bank also did not disclose any required UK deployment target, fee terms, or expected ownership exposure from its €25 million commitment.

Existing ties with EQT

The commitment follows earlier co-investments between the British Business Bank and EQT Life Sciences in UK health technology companies. The Bank co-invested in Phagenesis’ $42 million Series D in 2023 and Cyted Health’s $44 million Series B in 2025.

Phagenesis and Cyted sit in the type of specialist healthcare categories where generalist growth investors often lack the clinical, regulatory and reimbursement expertise needed to price risk. The Bank’s latest move signals that it is continuing to use fund commitments, rather than only direct company investments, to reach that part of the market.

EQT Life Sciences has operated for 30 years, according to the firm. It has raised more than €3.7 billion across 13 private funds and backed over 150 companies from early clinical development through commercialization.

Drew Burdon, a partner at EQT Life Sciences, said the firm has built its relationship with the British Business Bank through co-investments in UK healthtech companies. He said the Bank’s backing would support EQT’s plans to invest in the UK healthtech market and help build companies there.

UK policy angle

The British Business Bank framed the commitment as part of its work supporting high-potential UK life sciences companies. Life sciences is one of eight growth sectors in the UK government’s Industrial Strategy.

Christine Hockley, managing director and head of commercial equity funds at the British Business Bank, said UK life sciences companies need specialist investors to scale. She said investing in international funds is intended to draw more capital back into the UK and give domestic companies access to experienced investors.

The announcement does not say how much of EQT HE3’s capital will be invested in UK companies, or whether the Bank’s commitment comes with any formal domestic investment requirement. Without those details, the main signal is allocation strategy: the Bank is continuing to back sector-specific managers with a record in UK healthtech, rather than relying only on local funds or direct balance-sheet investments.

This story draws on original reporting from Tech.eu.