Sofinnova Partners Appoints Mats Eklund as Partner and Chief Operating Officer
Sofinnova Partners (“Sofinnova"), a leading European life sciences venture capital firm based in Paris, London, and Milan, announced today the appointment of Mats Eklund as Partner and Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Eklund will be taking over the helm of Sofinnova’s corporate services team from Monique Saulnier, a Managing Partner. Ms. Saulnier, who is retiring after 40 years with Sofinnova, will remain at the firm for a transition period until the second half of 2023.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221110005234/en/
Mats Eklund (Photo: Business Wire)
Mr. Eklund has 25 years’ experience in finance. His appointment reflects the strengthening of the firm’s management and corporate functions as it pursues its expansion across the entire value chain of life sciences investments.
Mr. Eklund most recently served as a Senior Advisor to two fund managers, NREP, a real estate fund manager with €15 billion in assets under management (AUM), and Sprints Capital, a venture capital and growth capital investment company with €1B in AUM. At NREP, he played a leading part in the acquisition of a German credit platform and in building the foundation for NREP’s credit business.
Before that, Mr. Eklund was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Triton, a Northern European private equity and credit investment firm with €16 billion in AUM. He was responsible for the corporate services teams, risk management, portfolio monitoring and ESG and served as a Director of the Boards of the Triton Alternative Investment Fund Manager and General Partner Companies. In addition, he worked closely with the Investor Relations team, supporting fund formation, capital raising and key investor relationships. During his time as Triton’s COO, Mr. Eklund also served as Head of WestPark Management Services, a company dedicated to providing services to Triton’s portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Triton, Mr. Eklund was with GE for almost 14 years. His most recent role there was as Chief Financial Officer for GE Capital EMEA, M&A and Private Equity. Mr. Eklund holds a master’s in economics and financial administration from the School of Business, Economics and Law at Gothenburg University, Sweden.
Antoine Papiernik, Chairman and Managing Partner of Sofinnova Partners, said: “Mats’ arrival fits perfectly with our desire to further strengthen our corporate services organization. He brings a strong and varied set of skills to support the expansion of our European platform of strategies.”
Mr. Eklund commented: “I am delighted to join Sofinnova Partners at this pivotal time for life sciences investing. I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to develop our platform of funds, and I am grateful to Monique, who has a deep knowledge of the VC world and Sofinnova’s history, for staying on during the transition period.”
Ms. Saulnier said: “After four decades with Sofinnova, I am beginning my long goodbye with pride in my heart. The last few years of expansion have been a fascinating end to an exhilarating journey. I will retire in 2023 with the assurance that my legacy is in good hands with Mats.”
###
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners is a hands-on company builder across the entire value chain of life sciences investments, from seed to later-stage. The firm actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop transformative innovations that have the potential to positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners is a deeply established venture capital firm in Europe, with 50 years of experience backing over 500 companies and creating market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2.5 billion under management. For more information, please visit: sofinnovapartners.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221110005234/en/
Contact information
Bommy Lee
Head of Communications
Sofinnova Partners
blee@sofinnovapartners.com
+33 (0) 6 47 71 38 11
North America
RooneyPartners LLC
Kate Barrette
kbarrette@rooneypartners.com
+1 212 223 0561
France
StrategiesImage
Anne Rein
anne.rein@strategiesimage.com
+33 (0) 6 03 35 92 05
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Ant International and HSBC Test New Cross-Border Payments Solution Using Tokenised Deposits on Swift’s Network and Powered by ISO 2002211.12.2025 05:00:00 EET | Press release
Ant International, HSBC and Swift today have completed a successful Proof of Concept (POC) for the cross-border transfer of tokenised deposits using ISO 20022 standards. The initiative leverages Swift’s global messaging network and HSBC’s recently launched Tokenised Deposit Service, combined with Ant International’s blockchain technology. The POC marks a key milestone in Ant International, HSBC, and Swift’s efforts to help businesses unlock the full benefits of tokenisation for enhanced liquidity, programmable finance, and 24/7 real-time settlement. As part of this initiative, Ant International and HSBC successfully integrated Ant International’s in-house blockchain infrastructure with Swift’s networks, enabling real-time treasury management across borders through HSBC Singapore and Hong Kong, via HSBC’s Tokenised Deposit Service. With the introduction of a common protocol co-built with Swift and HSBC, this could remove the need for Ant International to establish individual bilateral a
Canva Unveils 2026 Design Trends: The Year of ‘Imperfect by Design’11.12.2025 00:52:00 EET | Press release
Canva, the world’s leading all-in-one visual communication platform, today unveiled its third annual Design Trends Report with bold predictions for creativity, social media and brand content in 2026. The company also unveiled a “Design DNA” feature, which offers Canva users a custom recap that celebrates their creative output in 2025. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251210696597/en/ Canva Design DNA Trends from Creators, for Creators By analyzing design and search activity, expert insights from the Canva Designer Advisory Board, and a survey of 1,000 creators across the U.S. and Brazil, Canva has identified 10 design trends that will shape creative and design culture in 2026. The findings paint a clear picture: as creators embrace AI’s power, they also crave the human touches that make design feel personal. A New Creative Standard: Imperfect by Design As AI technology raises the baseline for what's possible, v
Audiencerate Achieves Google Customer Match Partner Status, strengthening its role as a Global Data Provider10.12.2025 23:40:00 EET | Press release
Audiencerate, an international technology company specializing in data activation solutions and platforms within the AdTech and MarTech sectors, has been officially awarded by Google as a Customer Match Upload Partner. This certification is granted to a restricted number of global operators (https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7361372?hl=en) authorized to manage and onboard first-party data into the Google Ads and DV360 ecosystem. The company strengthen its strategic partnership with Google by adding the Customer Match Upload Partner accreditation to its existing status as a certified Google Data Provider. This new credential enables Audiencerate to seamlessly integrate proprietary audience segments and data into Google’s advertising platforms. The combination of these two accreditations represents an exceptionalsituation in the international landscape and solidifies Audiencerate's position in the digital advertising market, which is increasingly reliant on first-party data. T
Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) Development Group – Official Statement10.12.2025 22:06:00 EET | Press release
On 8 September 2025, the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) Development Group convened a high-level meeting in the City of London with representatives from 37 nations, including all G7 members, alongside the European Commission, NATO, European Parliament, Global Banks, and Ratings Agencies to discuss the DSRB. A number of countries have now indicated their intention to begin the formal steps required to bring the DSRB into existence. This phased pattern of engagement is standard in the creation of international financial institutions, which typically begin with a core group of anchor nations and expand as additional members join through charter negotiations and subsequent capital rounds. The DSRB is designed to complement the European Union’s SAFE initiative, offering a broader multilateral platform that brings together NATO and Indo-Pacific nations and mobilises global capital to build the balance-sheet capacity required to finance nations’ defence spending and long-term res
ClickUp 4.0's Craft & Quality is Available Today, Maximizing Human Productivity10.12.2025 20:26:00 EET | Press release
ClickUp today announced the launch of ClickUp 4.0, a groundbreaking release designed to end the chaos of work sprawl and usher in a new era of work. With a bold vision for the convergence of software, people, and AI, ClickUp 4.0 delivers a suite of powerful new features that empower teams to do their best work in one converged workspace. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251210712132/en/ A new era of ClickUp For years, organizations have struggled with fragmented workflows, siloed tools, and the constant friction of context switching. ClickUp 4.0 is the answer: a single, beautifully crafted workspace that brings together tasks, docs, goals, chat, and AI-powered automation. The result is a platform that not only saves time but also sparks creativity and collaboration at every level. “Software is converging - we always knew it would. And it's about time, because work sprawl is the silent killer of productivity," s
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom
