Columbus Venture Partners winds up its first fund after returning over three times investors' capital

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Columbus Venture Partners is closing its first fund, Columbus Innvierte Life Science, after paying its investors €102.4 million against the €31.5 million they put in, roughly 3.25 times their money. The Paterna-based vehicle was set up in 2016 with a ten-year life. The firm co-founded by Javier García and Damià Tormo has told the CNMV that the liquidation accounts are approved and that it plans to deregister the fund. Its last holdings, Aura Biosciences and Vivet Therapeutics, were sold in 2026. CDTI, through Innvierte Economía Sostenible, holds 36.27% of the fund.

The fund backed eight companies and stopped investing in 2018. Columbus's own team originated seven of them. One was Viralgen, a gene therapy vector maker set up in San Sebastián in 2017 with AskBio. Bayer bought AskBio, Viralgen included, in 2020 for $2 billion upfront and up to $2 billion more on milestones. Another was Curapath, formerly PTS, where Columbus led a €1.3 million round in 2016; Arcline Investment Management acquired it in 2021. Early sales returned money quickly enough that investors only ever had to pay in 76% of what they had pledged, and commitments were cut by more than €9 million, which also lowered fees. The firm dropped its fixed management fee from 1 January 2026, a courtesy that is easier to extend near the end.

Since then Columbus has raised four more life science funds, the latest €205 million in 2025, and is preparing Columbus Innvierte DeepTech. Tormo said the first fund showed that "science companies with global impact" could be built from Spain.