Sofinnova Partners has partnered with NVIDIA in a move intended to equip its life sciences portfolio companies with faster processing speeds for processing complex biological datasets.
The French VC said that amid increasing demand for computational resources driven by artificial intelligence (AI), its portfolio companies will now be able to access NVIDIA Blackwell and related graphical processing units (GPU) offered by the technology giant via NVIDIA DGX Cloud Lepton, an AI platform and marketplace that connects developers to global AI infrastructure.
According to a report by GlobalData, the global revenue for AI platforms across healthcare is forecast to reach $18.8bn by 2027.
Sofinnova’s most recent fund is focused on digital medicine. By partnering with Nvidia, its portfolio companies in the area, including startups BioCorteX, Bioptimus, and Cure51, will be to process biological datasets and run computational models to complete tasks ‘within days’ that would previously have taken months through Cloud Lepton, the VC said.
Sofinnova Partners’ chairman and managing partner Antoine Papiernik commented: "This collaboration supercharges computation for life sciences innovation. The convergence of biology, AI, computation, and data isn't just our investment thesis – it's the defining battleground of the next decade.
“By securing access to Nvidia’s infrastructure, we're not just funding companies; we're empowering them with the computational backbone needed to outperform incumbents and redefine what's possible in drug discovery, precision medicine, and scalable solutions that address both human health and sustainability."
In March, Sofinnova’s life sciences fund reached €4bn ($4.6bn). Papiernik said that following the milestone, the VC plans to invest in 50 to 60 new companies, adding to the more than 100 life sciences companies it has invested in to date, including the cardiovascular medtech company Shockwave Medical.
Sofinnova also has Sofinnova AI. Launched in 2023 and combining data analytics and machine learning, the VC has stated that this fund is intended to strengthen its ability to identify innovations and accelerate the development of life sciences companies.
GTC Paris at VivaTech
News of the partnership coincides with Nvidia’s GTC conference, taking place in Paris, France from 10-12 June. During a presentation at the event, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said: “Europe isn’t just adopting AI — it’s building it.”
Notable healthcare announcements at the event included a new collaboration between Nvidia and Novo Nordisk to accelerate drug discovery efforts through AI use cases, with Nvidia’s aim to create customised AI models and agents that Novo Nordisk can use ind early research and clinical development.
Nvidia also announced a new partnership with GE HealthCare intended to advance innovation in autonomous imaging with a focus on developing autonomous X-ray technologies and ultrasound applications.
