Breaking Through the Bottleneck: Rethinking Early-Stage Innovation Funding in Nordic Life Science
By Rebeca Varela Lores, Investment Associate
December 17, 2025
From left to right: Maria Tell, Staffan Follin, and Christina Herder
Innovation in Nordic life sciences remains strong, but the pathway from early discovery to sustainable growth has become increasingly narrow. Capital is harder to access, decision-making cycles are longer, and expectations on early-stage companies are higher than ever. These dynamics framed a recent panel discussion organized by EY Parthenon, where experienced investors and industry leaders reflected on what it now takes to survive (and succeed) through the current funding bottleneck.
The panel, “Key Learnings in Approaching the Bottleneck of Innovation Funding and Surviving Early-Stage Development,” brought together complementary perspectives from across the ecosystem:
Maria Tell, COO and Investment Director at Segulah Medical
Staffan Folin, Head of Corporate Finance and Life Sciences Nordics and Sweden
Christina Herder, Board professional in Life Sciences, and Senior Advisor at Ventures Accelerated
While each speaker approached the topic from a different vantage point, their insights converged around a shared reality: navigating early-stage funding today requires patience, discipline, and a far more strategic approach than in previous cycles.
The Reality of Early-Stage Funding: Patience Without Shortcuts
Financing innovation has always required resilience, but as Staffan Folin noted, the challenge becomes most acute in the earliest phases, when data is limited and the promise of a product is still largely conceptual. In these moments, there is no “secret sauce” to overcoming funding gaps. Progress depends on persistence, realistic expectations, and the ability to endure periods where validation is still forming.
This sentiment was echoed across the panel. Maria Tell described the current Nordic funding climate as one of “resilience and reality.” While innovation continues to thrive, investors have become more selective, placing greater emphasis on clarity, early proof points, and a well-articulated path forward.
Together, these perspectives underline a fundamental shift: early-stage companies must now demonstrate not only strong science, but also maturity in how they approach uncertainty, risk, and long-term development.
What Investors Expect: Clarity, Credibility, and Delivery
In today’s environment, investors are not simply evaluating ideas, they are assessing execution capability over time.
Maria emphasized that companies approaching investors must clearly articulate:
The problem they are solving and why it matters for patients
How early data supports the underlying hypothesis
A realistic understanding of the full journey, from development through commercialization and exit
The scalability and global relevance of the solution
Crucially, founders are also expected to show self-awareness, recognizing where additional expertise will be needed as the company evolves.
Staffan reinforced this by stressing the importance of early and proactive investor engagement. Companies should meet investors well before capital is needed, test their ideas, share development and business plans, and listen carefully to feedback. Investors, he noted, are often generous with their insights. What truly builds credibility is returning to those same investors later and demonstrating that feedback has been acted upon. Delivering on promises is one of the strongest trust signals a company can send.
Partnerships as Both Validation and Strategy
As funding becomes more constrained, partnerships have moved from being an advantage to a necessity.
From Maria’s perspective, collaborations with academia, clinicians, and industry players provide critical external validation, something investors increasingly require before committing capital. At Segulah Medical, this translates into a hands-on investment approach, supporting portfolio companies beyond funding alone.
Staffan broadened the lens further. Collaborations help companies minimize costs, access the right expertise at the right time, and initiate early dialogues with potential licensing partners. From a financing standpoint, syndication is essential. Venture capital firms rarely invest alone; they co-invest with other VCs and financial partners who contribute not only capital, but networks and domain knowledge.
Christina Herder added that in risk-averse markets, partnerships can allow companies to continue advancing development even when capital is scarce, providing momentum without overextending resources.
Across all perspectives, one message was clear: no company builds alone anymore.
Understanding the Funding Drought: A Systemic Challenge
While company-level discipline matters, the panel also addressed structural factors shaping today’s funding environment.
Staffan highlighted a critical bottleneck: the lack of IPOs in biotech. Without liquidity events, venture capital firms struggle to return capital to their limited partners, which in turn limits their ability to raise new funds. As VCs focus on supporting existing portfolio companies, less capital is available for new investments. This dynamic is further intensified by competition from tech-focused funds, which have seen stronger fundraising success.
The implication is sobering but realistic: meaningful improvement in early-stage funding will likely follow a recovery in the biotech IPO market, and that recovery may take time.
Maria and Christina both emphasized that this reality reinforces the need for patience, longer planning horizons, and financing strategies anchored in clearly defined, value-creating milestones.
Narrative Matters, But It Must Be Grounded
A compelling story remains essential, but its content has evolved.
According to Maria, the strongest narratives connect science, strategy, and patient impact, clearly explaining why the innovation matters, how it reaches the market, and what the next meaningful milestone is.
Staffan reinforced that companies must go beyond technology alone. Investors need to understand:
The medical need being addressed
The size and accessibility of the market
The competitive landscape
If founders cannot explain how their product solves a real medical problem and where it fits commercially, investor interest is unlikely to follow, no matter how elegant the science.
Both speakers also stressed realism around valuation and timelines. Aligning early with the right investors, rather than optimizing for short-term valuation, sets companies up for more sustainable growth.
Managing Resources With Discipline
When capital is limited, focus becomes a strategic advantage.
Christina advised companies to concentrate resources on activities that genuinely reduce development risk. She encouraged founders to ask potential investors and partners what data they would need to see to engage, patterns in those answers often reveal the most critical value drivers.
Staffan added practical guidance: keep organizations lean, leverage virtual structures where possible, and build strong boards and advisory networks. These structures help companies navigate periods of constrained financing while maintaining strategic direction.
Looking Ahead: Discipline, Collaboration, and Long-Term Thinking
Despite the challenges, the panel shared a cautious optimism. The Nordic region continues to produce world-class science and talent. What will determine success in the coming years is not speed, but discipline.
Breaking through today’s funding bottleneck will require:
Clear strategic thinking from the earliest stages
Early and continuous investor engagement
Strong partnerships that validate and accelerate development
Milestone-driven execution
A more connected Nordic ecosystem
In a selective market, credibility is built over time. And the companies that combine scientific excellence with patience, focus, and collaboration will be the ones that endure — and ultimately define the next chapter of Nordic life science innovation.