The Venture Codex Logo

The Venture Codex

Ackermans & van Haaren

Begijnenvest 113, Antwerpen, 2000, Belgium

Overview

Ackermans & van Haaren is a diversified group active in 5 segments: Marine Engineering & Infrastructure; Private Banking; Real Estate, Leisure & Senior Care; Energy & Resources; Development Capital. Marine Engineering & Infrastructure: DEME, one of the largest dredging companies in the world - Algemene Aannemingen Van Laere, a leading contractor in Belgium. Ackermans & van Haaren is an independent and diversified group aiming at creating shareholder value through long-term investments in a limited number of companies with growth potential on an international level.

Total investments
8
Lead investments
3
Investments · 12mo
3
Active investors
7

Sector focus

  • Banking
  • Infrastructure
  • Real Estate
Visit website

Investment portfolio

  • Medikabazaar

    Participated · Equity · Feb 2026

    Medikabazaar operates a technology-driven B2B e-commerce platform that streamlines procurement of medical equipment and consumables for healthcare providers. The company has recently completed an operational reset that emphasized supply–chain integration and customer experience, helping revenues surpass ₹2,000 crore while achieving operating breakeven and a profitable EBITDA. Its marketplace shows consistent double-digit year-on-year growth, supported by deeper supplier partnerships and improved platform capabilities. Management plans to channel new capital into accelerating digital innovation, reinforcing category leadership, upgrading technology infrastructure, and widening its pan-India footprint. Positioned within an Indian healthcare sector forecast to reach $320 billion by FY28, Medikabazaar benefits from rising hospital capacity and a broader shift toward digital procurement. With an eye on becoming an "ecosystem orchestrator" for healthcare supply chains, the firm aims to capture value from trends such as platform consolidation and actionable AI.

  • DISCO Pharmaceuticals

    Led · Seed · Dec 2025

    DISCO Pharmaceuticals is an oncology biotech leveraging a proprietary platform that maps the entire cell surface (the surfaceome) to uncover novel target pairs for drug development. Using these discoveries, the company engineers highly selective bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T-cell engagers aimed at indications such as small cell lung cancer and microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer. The technology is designed to broaden the universe of actionable cancer targets and improve therapeutic precision. Recently, DISCO appointed veteran oncology executive Mark Manfredi, Ph.D., as CEO, while founder Roman Thomas, M.D., transitioned to a strategic advisor role. With a total of €36 million in seed capital, the company plans to move multiple lead ADC candidates into IND-enabling studies and to expand both indication-specific and pan-tumor programs. Investors believe the platform can unlock entirely new therapeutic areas by revealing previously unknown cell-surface biology. The fresh capital provides runway to advance the lead programs toward the clinic and continue generating additional surfaceome-based targets.

  • MRM Health

    Participated · Series B · Sep 2025

    MRM Health develops microbiome-based biotherapeutic products using its proprietary CORAL® platform to assemble and produce disease-specific microbial consortia. The company is advancing its lead program MH002 into clinical development for ulcerative colitis and the rare condition pouchitis, while running preclinical programs in other inflammatory indications and immuno-oncology. MRM Health recently completed a €55 million Series B in September 2025 led by Biocodex with participation from ATHOS, BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity and existing investors SFPIM, AvH, OMX Venture, QBic and VIB. The €2.6 million VLAIO grant will fund a three-year collaborative research program with Belgian academic partners to generate mechanistic and clinical microbiome data and accelerate LBP candidate development toward clinical proof-of-concept. The company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium and reports products in clinical stages.

  • Confo Therapeutics

    Led · Series B · Jul 2024

    Confo Therapeutics employs a proprietary discovery platform using conformation-specific ConfoBodies® to stabilize GPCRs in functionally relevant states and discover small molecules and agonistic antibodies. The company is building a pipeline focused on metabolic and endocrine diseases, including programs directed at obesity and severe rare endocrine disorders. Confo plans to advance two wholly owned programs through Phase 1 and bring two additional programs to IND approval, with explicit efforts on molecules targeting GPR75 for obesity. The company emphasizes both small-molecule GPCR modulators and therapeutic antibodies, notably agonistic antibodies. Confo is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. Its current financial position includes the recently closed EUR 60M Series B financing to accelerate its development pipeline. Confo Therapeutics develops ConfoBodyTM single-domain camelid antibodies that selectively stabilize G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) to enable drug discovery. The company is building a portfolio of first-in-class programs based on its Confo® technology. It operates both internal discovery programs and revenue-generating partnerships with pharma on non-competing GPCR targets. Confo Therapeutics has active collaborations with Lundbeck and Roche to apply its platform. The firm plans to use new capital to advance its pipeline of GPCR-modulating compounds toward clinical candidates. The company was co-founded in 2015 as a VUB–VIB spin-off and is based in Ghent, Belgium. Confo Therapeutics is an emerging drug-discovery company based in Ghent, Belgium, that uses its proprietary Confo® technology to discover new GPCR agonist compounds for the treatment of fibrosis. The company operates a Drug Discovery Center in Gent and a Target Discovery Center in Brussels. It is expanding the applicability of its Confo® platform, supported by recent grant awards. Financially, Confo Therapeutics has been awarded non-dilutive funding totaling roughly €2.6 million to support its discovery programs. Part of the funding will be allocated over a two-year VLAIO grant primarily to the Gent Drug Discovery Center, while the Innoviris award will support work at the Brussels Target Discovery Center. The company’s near-term plans, as described in the awards, focus on fibrosis compound discovery and broadening the Confo® technology’s use.

  • Vico Therapeutics

    Led · Series B · Jan 2024

    Vico Therapeutics B.V. is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company advancing therapies for severe neurodegenerative diseases. Its lead program, VO659, is in a Phase 1/2a clinical study in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia types 3 and 1 and Huntington’s disease. The company is developing a portfolio of novel antisense oligonucleotides aimed at diseases with no current disease-modifying treatments. Recent financing is intended to bolster its clinical programs and support further development of its pipeline. The articles note ongoing clinical development and a completed Series B financing round totaling €65.8 million ($70.7 million) to support these activities. Vico Therapeutics is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company developing antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) RNA‑modulating therapies for severe neurological diseases. Its lead product candidate, VO659, is in a Phase 1/2a multi-center, open‑label basket trial in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3), type 1 (SCA1) and early manifest Huntington's disease (HD). The trial is assessing safety and tolerability of multiple ascending intrathecal doses; the first patient was dosed in April 2023. Vico’s platform designs fit‑for‑purpose ASOs that target genetic neurological diseases, and VO659 is described as the only ASO in the clinic that targets the underlying CAG repeat expansions responsible for all nine known polyglutamine diseases. The company plans to use the new funding to advance VO659 through the ongoing clinical study and to support discovery and research to expand its pipeline into other genetic neurological diseases. Financially, Vico announced a $60 million (€54 million) Series B to support overall company operations and clinical development. Vico Therapeutics develops RNA‑modulating therapies, notably an antisense oligonucleotide (AON) platform targeting expanded CAG trinucleotide repeats that produce toxic polyglutamine stretches. Its lead AON asset is directed at polyQ neurodegenerative disorders including Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 1 and 3 (SCA1, SCA3) and Huntington’s disease (HD). The company also operates an early‑discovery RNA editing platform focused on Rett syndrome. Vico plans to use the Series A proceeds to advance its late preclinical AON programs into first‑in‑human clinical trials in late 2021. The company raised $31M in the Series A financing announced July 29, 2020, improving its runway to support those clinical plans. Vico was founded in 2019 and is based in Leiden, Netherlands.

Team