Header image: Kenneth Wils (PMV).
From AI-powered diagnostics to digital therapeutics and smart devices, new healthtech ventures are popping up across Europe. As Head of Life Sciences & Care at PMV, Kenneth Wils has a front-row seat to this evolving sector. Ahead of Biovia’s HealthTech Investor Summit in Utrecht from 8–10 December 2025, he shared his thoughts on European healthtech and what innovators can do to impress investors.
Q: How does PMV support health innovation?
Kenneth Wils: “PMV is a strong supporter of the life sciences ecosystem in Flanders. We engage in multiple ways to stimulate innovation. For example, PMV acts as a limited partner in many life sciences funds active in our region. By doing so, we help maintain a healthy local venture capital ecosystem for our startups and scale-ups.
“Through our direct investment activities — especially via PMV Life Sciences and Care — we make targeted investments in select innovative biotech, healthtech, and agritech companies that aim to strengthen the competitive position of the Flemish ecosystem.
“PMV also invests in key infrastructure that supports innovation. For instance, PMV recently helped build the new headquarters for VIB in Ghent. And we’re a founding partner of the Solvay Advanced Master in Biotech and Medtech Ventures program, because our commitment extends beyond financial support — it’s also about empowering people.”
Q: What differentiates PMV as an investor?
Kenneth Wils: “When it comes to direct investments, we act as a true partner in ambition. In terms of specialized know-how, expertise and network, we match the capabilities of other life sciences VCs.
“Our differentiation lies in our focus: we invest in companies that strengthen our local ecosystem, benefit from our evergreen character, and receive our support throughout their lifecycle.
“Our differentiation lies in our focus: we invest in companies that strengthen our local ecosystem, benefit from our evergreen character, and receive our support throughout their lifecycle.” – Kenneth Wils
“Early-stage investing is truly our core strength. Together with our private co-investors, we can set promising early-stage projects in motion. And as they evolve in the right direction, we can act as a major catalyst for subsequent funding rounds as a deep-pocketed local VC partner. We are also able to commit at later stages, when appropriate.
“No matter the stage, we always require private co-investors. Currently, we’re unfortunately observing a decline in the number of players active in early-stage VC financing.”
Q: What initiatives are being taken in Flanders to address the challenges in securing early-stage financing?
Kenneth Wils: “The Flemish Government recently announced an increase in fund size for the PMV-managed Flanders Future Tech Fund, from €75 million to €250 million. The fund is also set to become more flexible.
“PMV launched this fund in 2019 as an early-stage investment fund, providing up to €5 million for promising technology-driven companies. The Flanders Future Tech Fund has already been called upon to invest in companies such as AstriVax Therapeutics, Clouds of Care, Flindr Therapeutics, and most recently Spica Therapeutics.
“The expansion of the fund will provide us with the necessary financial firepower — together with other early-stage co-investors — to help promising new technology companies reach key value inflection points and become attractive for a broader VC community.”
Q: How does PMV balance its mission-driven investment approach with financial sustainability in sectors with long timelines?
Kenneth Wils: “At PMV, we are well-equipped to act as a catalyst for companies across both short- and long-term trajectories, thanks to a broad range of investment instruments.
“Within Life Sciences & Care, our investment focus is on companies that have the ambition and potential to become key contributors to the competitiveness of our local ecosystem. This highly targeted investment strategy is designed to identify and nurture future winners that will drive prosperity in our region.
“Equity and quasi-equity remain our primary investment modalities, always with a long-term horizon. Through our fund-of-funds activities, we also invest in other funds, which helps sustain a vibrant ecosystem of venture capital funds while diversifying our risk.
“These activities enable us to pursue a mission-driven investment approach while safeguarding PMV’s financial sustainability — even in sectors like healthtech, where returns may take longer to materialize.” – Kenneth Wils
“In addition, PMV can support companies with a variety of innovative financing tools, such as co-financing loans and Ecoboost loans, and by carrying out major infrastructure projects.
“These activities enable us to pursue a mission-driven investment approach while safeguarding PMV’s financial sustainability — even in sectors like healthtech, where returns may take longer to materialize.”
Q: How would you describe the current investment climate in healthtech?
Kenneth Wils: “The landscape has changed remarkably. A few years ago, digital health and medtech were still experiencing a funding boom, partly accelerated by the pandemic’s spotlight on remote healthcare.
“Now, investors are more cautious: valuations are lower and there’s a greater focus on sustainable business models and proven clinical outcomes. However, investor support remains strong for companies with a proven track record, with more international competition for high-quality deals, which pushes Flemish companies to raise their standards.”
Q: Is investing in healthtech similar to traditional biotech?
Kenneth Wils: “There are both similarities and notable differences. For example, the importance of a good team backed by a strong investor consortium cannot be understated, regardless of whether we are talking about an investment in biotech or healthtech.
“The importance of a good team backed by a strong investor consortium cannot be understated, regardless of whether we are talking about an investment in biotech or healthtech.” – Kenneth Wils
“Every investment case must be grounded in a strong unmet need and supported by solid USPs and differentiation potential, compared with the state-of-the-art and competitors.
“For every investment the risk-to-return ratio should be correct. As mentioned before, we always co-invest with private investors and operate according to market standards.”
Q: What are the key differences between investing in biotech and healthtech?
Kenneth Wils: “Digital health is often about software, data platforms, and rapid prototyping. Investing here means shorter development cycles and potentially quicker market entry, but also complex integration into healthcare systems with frequently lengthy pathways to reimbursement and market validation.
“Biotech, meanwhile, revolves around drug discovery, clinical trials, and regulatory approval that can take a decade or more to achieve, requiring patience and deep scientific due diligence.
“Medtech is probably the most challenging segment to invest in.” – Kenneth Wils
“Finally, medtech is probably the most challenging segment to invest in. Development timelines are similar to those in biotech, but medtech also shares the complexities of digital health innovations, particularly when it comes to integration into the healthcare system. This combination often results in very long investment cycles.
“As a result, we see that a merger or acquisition may be possible for a biotech company prior to completion of all clinical trial phases (by “selling the promise”), but M&A activity in healthtech usually takes place at a later stage, when companies have proven commercial traction.
“This is why we carefully tailor due diligence process preceding an investment to whether it’s biotech or healthtech.”
Q: How do the risk profiles and timelines differ between these two sectors?
Kenneth Wils: “There is a considerable level of risk associated with any type of VC investment in the life sciences, and timelines vary from one company to another, regardless of whether it is a biotech or healthtech investment.
“In healthtech, risks are more often tied to market adoption and regulatory shifts, whereas in biotech the main risk is in science, developability and efficacy of a drug.
“In both cases, we look for agile teams that can pivot when necessary and form partnerships. We also work with staged financing, focusing on clear value inflection points that are strong enough to attract next-stage investors who will co-finance subsequent, larger investment rounds.”
Q: Healthtech includes a very broad range of product types. Does that make this landscape complex for investors to navigate?
Kenneth Wils: “Healthtech spans hardware, to software and data analytics/AI. All are subject to different regulatory regimes, for example MDR or IVDR compliance for devices and assays, GDPR for patient data, etc.
“Moreover, hospital integration requirements, as well as the options for reimbursement, are different for each investment and may vary significantly between countries. Therefore, each investment case requires a different approach.
“For instance, if we’re assessing a company developing AI-driven radiology software, we need to scrutinize both their clinical validation and their approach to data privacy. Whereas with a hardware device company, we know they’ll face a lengthy regulatory approval and reimbursement process, and we examine their plans carefully.
“The starting point for any assessment centers around a strong unmet need in the market and a clear view on the value that a solution can bring.” – Kenneth Wils
“At PMV, we have a broad investment scope. However, the starting point for any assessment centers around a strong unmet need in the market and a clear view on the value that a solution can bring. With that in mind, we consider many different types of ventures, from tech-related solutions with a high impact on hospital workflows to fully regulated health products for treatment or prevention of diseases.”
Q: How do you see the European healthtech and biotech investment scenes evolving over the next few years?
Kenneth Wils: “We expect to see more consolidation among start-ups, with a stronger focus on quality and real-world impact. The next wave will likely come from integrated AI-solutions and cross-border digital platforms. We hope to see Pan-European collaborations becoming more common, as companies are looking for scale and diversifying data sources.
“We also expect to see a continued demand for realistic valuations, which is actually a good thing, as it encourages a focus on companies with strong fundamentals and long-term viability, rather than speculative investments.
“Some areas we’re excited about (despite remaining challenges) are more affordable personalized medicine, radiopharmaceuticals for disease treatment, AI-powered diagnostics, digital biomarkers for early disease detection, and data analysis tools that enable new insights for clinical development.”
Q: Are there structural changes currently underway to make healthtech innovation easier for European entrepreneurs?
Kenneth Wils: “Absolutely. We see a number of European initiatives happening that should be of benefit to healthtech entrepreneurs.
“For example, the EU Chips Act should strengthen regional capabilities in advanced technologies and stimulating cross-sector innovation. The European Health Data Space Initiative — creating a common framework for the secure exchange of healthcare data — is likely to facilitate geographical growth for digital health companies. And the EU AI Act — which aims to regulate AI to ensure better conditions for the development and use of this innovative technology — may benefit both biotech and healthtech companies.
“There are also efforts underway to streamline regulatory approvals via a pan-European fast track, and to scale up the European Innovation Council’s blended financing programs.
“Better harmonization could simplify and speed-up the rate of innovation, making Europe more self-reliant and improving the global competitiveness of our companies.” – Kenneth Wils
“Overall, we think these types of cross-border and EU-wide initiatives should be encouraged, as better harmonization could simplify and speed-up the rate of innovation, making Europe more self-reliant and improving the global competitiveness of our companies.”
Q: Are there any common mistakes you see early-stage healthtech founders make when approaching investors?
Kenneth Wils: “Too often, healthtech founders overlook regulatory hurdles or assume clinical adoption will be easy. Others focus solely on the tech and neglect market validation or reimbursement. We’ve seen promising companies fail simply because they didn’t engage clinicians early enough or underestimated the time to navigate hospital procurement.
“It is important for founders to have a clear understanding of what their future investment needs, timelines and potential exit options are, already at an early stage. When we consider an investment, we need to see the ‘full picture’, not only what is needed to get to the next stage or value-inflection point.”
Q: What should entrepreneurs do to make their companies more ‘investment-ready’ in the current climate?
Kenneth Wils: “Entrepreneurs should have their regulatory strategy mapped out, show tangible progress with pilot users or clinical partners, and clarify their business model. For healthtech, it’s good to have a clear path to reimbursement (if that’s applicable) and a hospital integration plan.
“For all companies, it is important to define clear value-inflection points, and to bring a focused proposal when talking to investors.” – Kenneth Wils
“For all companies, it is important to define clear value-inflection points, and to bring a focused proposal when talking to investors. It must be clear what can be attained with the requested funding, but also what additional funding will be needed in the future.”
Q: What are your top three pieces of advice for founders building health innovation ventures?
Kenneth Wils: “First: to build a strong, multidisciplinary core team with the right competencies in place, tailored to the company’s stage of development.
“Second: validate with real users early and often, including clinicians and patients.
“Third, and in particular for healthtech ventures: plan for international expansion from the start, understanding how health systems differ across markets.
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“In addition to these three points, be willing to adapt to constructive feedback from customers, partners and investors, as well as to changes in market dynamics or regulatory requirements. Keep an open and flexible mindset.”
