Early-stage companies will remain Santé’s primary investment target, and especially those looking to tackle areas marked by “clinical complexity, capital inefficiency or outdated care delivery models.\"\n As biotech and other sectors of the life sciences industry espouse cautious optimism for a stabler financing environment in 2026, a steady influx of new funds in the space suggests things are trending in a positive direction so far.The latest firm to top up its venture capital coffers is Austin, Texas-based Santé Ventures, which Monday announced its fifth and biggest fund to date. At $330 million, the fund has eclipsed the $300 million target Santé originally set, according to a Feb. 2 press release.Santé will direct the fund toward investments in innovative biotechnology, medtech and digitally enabled healthcare companies. The firm noted that it will continue its playbook of “thematic investing, rigorous scientific diligence and hands on company creation.”Early-stage companies will remain Santé’s primary target, and especially those looking to tackle areas marked by “clinical complexity, capital inefficiency or outdated care delivery models,” the investor said. Many of the companies where Santé played lead investor have gone on to secure successful buyouts, such as heart implant maker Laminar, purchased by Johnson & Johnson, electrophysiology specialists Farapulse, which was acquired by Boston Scientific, and biotech AbVitro, which ultimately found its way under Bristol Myers Squibb’s wing through its buyout by Juno Therapeutics in 2016.“Fund V represents a continuation of our mission to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs driving breakthrough science and transformative healthcare solutions,” said in a statement.In tandem with the fund’s close, Santé has also appointed two new managing directors, Dennis McWilliams and Omar Khalil.Last year, Khalil said in an interview with Fierce Biotech that the industry had reached a “new normal” after the policy and financing tumult that defined the first half of 2025, noting that biotechs were learning how to better manage impacts, prepare for multiple possibilities and, in some instances, acknowledge that certain issues weren’t as severe as feared.Still, pressures from an enduring bear market, persistent layoffs and increasingly high data standards mean that, these days, Santé is investing in biotechs a bit closer to the clinic than it might have before, Khalil explained last summer.As policy uncertainties abate and the financing environment appears to be evening out, many within the industry and on the sidelines have suggested that 2026 could mark a major rebound for biotech.Adding to that sense of optimism, three other biotech-focused funds debuted near the start of January, including a $700 million tranche set aside for “Bio and Health” from Andreessen Horowitz. Around the same time, German mRNA maven BioNTech teamed up with the University of Pennsylvania and VC firm Osage University Partners to create a $50 million fund for Pennsylvania companies, while French pharma Servier formed a new fund catering primarily to European biotechs. Servier has put down an initial 200 million euros to be channeled toward oncology and neurology companies.On the flip side, European investment firm Gimv recently declared that it will no longer put funds into the life science sector as it focuses its efforts on platforms in consumer, healthcare, smart industries and sustainable cities. Curiously, the move came right on the heels of Gimv leading a 51 million euro series B round for neuropsych biotech Exciva.