Diamond Biofund, the nation’s only sustainable venture capital company, announced on December 23 that fundraising for its two venture capital funds, "Diamond Biofund I" and "Diamond Biofund II," will be terminated. The decision, based on international investment strategy considerations, was approved during a board meeting of Diamond Biofund on the same day. Moving forward, these two funds will be integrated with their parent company, Diamond Biofund.
According to the announcement, Diamond Biofund I and Diamond Biofund II were established as two wholly-owned subsidiaries with NT$40 billion raised through a public offering by Diamond Biofund. Of this amount, NT$20 billion was allocated to the Diamond Biofund I fund, and NT$20 billion to the Diamond Biofund II fund. Both funds invited participation from life insurers and other financial institutions, with Fubon Life Insurance and Taishin Life Insurance joining as key investors.
On the same day, Fubon Financial Holding and Taishin Financial Holding announced, on behalf of their respective subsidiaries, Fubon Life Insurance and Taishin Life Insurance, the termination of their cash capital injection investment plans in Diamond Biofund I and Diamond Biofund II. Taishin Life Insurance had committed no more than NT$2.9 billion to each fund, while Fubon Life Insurance had committed up to NT$10 billion to each.
Taishin Financial Holding’s General Manager, Victor Lin, explained that the termination resulted from Diamond Biofund halting its fundraising efforts, leading to a passive suspension of the investment. Taishin Life Insurance had approved the investment in the newly planned fund by Diamond Biofund during a board meeting on October 22. However, with the suspension of fundraising, Taishin Life Insurance has also halted its investment. Lin emphasized that investments previously made in Diamond Biofund remain unchanged, but since the planned new fund will not be launched, the intended investment amounts have now been canceled.
Diamond Biofund clarified that neither Diamond Biofund I nor Diamond Biofund II are sustainable venture capital funds. The company’s founding mission was to enable biotech investments domestically and internationally without the typical eight-year investment horizon of venture capital. However, stricter domestic regulations on overseas biotech investments by the life insurance industry have raised concerns about regulatory restrictions on future biotech investments involving insurers.
Given these international investment strategy considerations, Diamond Biofund decided to cease external fundraising for the two subsidiary funds. The company will consolidate the capital of these two funds with that of the parent company to form a larger sustainable venture capital fund. This move aims to enhance Diamond Biofund's capacity to actively invest in larger-scale biotech projects both domestically and internationally.
Resource: 鑽石投資兩檔基金 終止募集
