New Players Are Reshaping Life Science Financing
By Olesia Karvetskaia, Chief Operating Officer
September 2, 2026
Helena Strigård
CEO and Founder of Ventures Accelerated
A recent pitch night hosted by Cancerfonden together with VILDA offered a glimpse of a broader shift taking place in life science financing.
New types of actors are entering the funding landscape. CROs and CDMOs, for example, are increasingly supporting start-ups and scale-ups financially. The logic is strategic as much as financial: helping promising companies cross the “valley of death” can also help create stronger future customers.
In Sweden, another shift is becoming visible. Non-profit organisations traditionally focused on research grants are beginning to support more market-oriented activities, including validation and proof-of-concept work. This brings patient-centric perspectives and domain expertise closer to the commercialisation process.
The diversification is welcome, but it also adds another layer to an already fragmented capital landscape. Angels, family offices, VCs, PE investors, strategic partners and foundations often operate in parallel, with limited communication across stages. Early-stage companies are therefore left to navigate a long and complex path largely on their own, despite the fact that later-stage investors could often provide valuable guidance much earlier.
There may be no simple solution, but events that bring different parts of the funding ecosystem into the same room are a useful start. Stronger connections across the capital stack could improve not only access to funding, but also the quality and readiness of the life science ventures progressing through it.