Caixa Capital Risc

Quick read

Caixa Capital Risc is a Barcelona-based VC firm founded in 2002, operating as the venture capital arm of CriteriaCaixa. It backs early-stage companies across life sciences, enterprise tech, and industrial technology, primarily in Spain and Portugal, with over 200 investments to date. Its two evergreen funds — Criteria Bio Ventures and Criteria Venture Tech — now anchor its biotech and B2B SaaS strategies respectively.

Key facts

Founded

February 2002

Employees

62

Sectors

biotech, enterprise, healthcare, ai, hardware

Website

caixacapitalrisc.es

Investment thesis

Caixa Capital Risc backs early-stage companies (seed through Series B) in life sciences, enterprise tech, and industrial technology, primarily in Spain and Portugal. Its two evergreen vehicles — Criteria Bio Ventures and Criteria Venture Tech — focus on biotech/biopharma and B2B SaaS/deep tech respectively, with check sizes typically between €500K and €5M.

Recent activity

• Sep 2023investment
  Criteria Bio Ventures (managed by Caixa Capital Risc) led a €27.3M Series A in AbolerIS Pharma, a Belgian biopharma developing a first-in-class immune-tolerance treatment for autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis. Sound Bioventures and Newton Biocapital co-led the round. aboleris-pharma.com
• Sep 2023investment
  Caixa Capital Risc participated in a $5.2M round for Inari, a Barcelona-based insurtech firm targeting global insurance tech services. tracxn.com
• 2023investment
  Criteria Venture Tech led a €3.5M round in Enline Energy Solutions, an energy infrastructure software company, to fund its global expansion. linkedin.com
• 2022investment
  Caixa Capital Risc led a €5.5M Series A in Zinklar, a consumer insights automation platform, with a €1.7M ticket primarily from the Criteria Venture Tech fund. The round also included Beacon Capital, EASO Ventures, Full Global Investments, and CDTI Innvierte. zinklar.com
• 2022fundraise
  Caixa Capital Risc publicly launched two new evergreen funds: Criteria Venture Tech, targeting B2B technology companies in Spain and Portugal with tickets of €500K–€2M (follow-on up to €5M), and Criteria Bio Ventures, focused on biotech and life sciences. linkedin.com
• Jul 2021investment
  Caixa Capital Risc became a minority shareholder in AlgaEnergy alongside CDTI (Spanish state innovation body), backing the microalgae biotech company's capital increase to expand production, enter food and cosmetics markets, and grow internationally. global-agriculture.com
• 2021investment
  Caixa Capital Risc led the sale of portfolio company Sanifit Therapeutics to Vifor Pharma for an upfront payment of €205M. Caixa Capital Risc had invested in every financing round since 2006, putting in over €23M total. ala.associates
• Mar 2025leadership
  Jordi Ros appointed CEO (consejero delegado) of Caixa Capital Risc, effective 26 March 2025, tasked with leading the firm's strategic plan. cbinsights.com
• 2024investment
  Caixa Capital Risc, through Criteria Bio Ventures, led the €27.3M Series A financing of AbolerIS Pharma, a Belgian biopharma developing treatments for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. linkedin.com
• 2024investment
  Participated in a Series E co-led by Asabys Partners, VI Partners and CDTI Innvierte for MedLumics, a medical device company focused on cardiac ablation. tracxn.com
• 2023fundraise
  Launched two new evergreen funds — Criteria Venture Tech (B2B SaaS and deep tech) and Criteria Bio Ventures (biotech) — marking a structural shift in how it deploys capital. linkedin.com
• Sep 2023investment
  Participated in Inari's $52M seed round to transform agricultural practices through AI-driven seed technology. linkedin.com

Notable investments

• AbolerIS PharmaSeries ASep 2023aboleris-pharma.com
• InariUndisclosedSep 2023tracxn.com
• Enline Energy SolutionsUndisclosed (€3.5M)2023linkedin.com
• ZinklarSeries A2022zinklar.com
• AlgaEnergyUndisclosedJul 2021global-agriculture.com
• Barbara IoTUndisclosed (€2.5M)Undatedstartupsreal.com
• iPronicsUndisclosed (€3.7M)Undatedstartupsreal.com
• AbolerIS PharmaSeries A (€27.3M)2024linkedin.com
• MedLumicsSeries E2024tracxn.com
• InariSeed ($52M)Sep 2023linkedin.com
• Splice BioSeed2023tracxn.com
• Adaptam TherapeuticsSeed2023tracxn.com

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

• Carlos Trenchs · Partner
• Jordi Ros · CEO
• Marcelino Armenter · CEO, CriteriaCaixa (parent)
• Sebastián Müller · Director, Caixa Capital Risc

Sources

• Caixa Capital Risc - Tracxn Investor Profile
• Caixa Capital Risc | LinkedIn
• Caixa Capital Risc - CB Insights
• Caixa Capital Risc | Startupxplore
• Caixa Capital Risc | Private Equity International
• Caixa Capital Risc | OpenVC
• https://aboleris-pharma.com/aboleris-pharma-announces-e27-million-in-series-a-financing-to-advance-its-novel-treatment-paradigm-for-autoimmune-and-inflammatory-diseases/
• https://zinklar.com/blog/zinklar-raises-e5-5m-in-series-a-to-accelerate-global-rollout-of-its-insights-automation-platform/
• https://www.global-agriculture.com/global-agriculture/caixa-capital-risc-and-the-state-of-spain-become-shareholders-of-algaenergy-to-accelerate-the-growth-of-the-microalgae-biotech-sector/
• https://ala.associates/others/caixa-capital-risc-leads-sale-of-sanifit-therapeutics-to-vifor-pharma-with-upfront-payment-of-e205m/

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• Kibo Ventures · Multi-stage VC, Madrid·
• K Fund · Early-stage VC, Madrid·
• JME Ventures · Early-stage VC, Madrid·
• Samaipata · Early-stage VC, Madrid + Paris·
• Nauta Capital · B2B VC, Barcelona + London

Explore VCs by sector

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Globally

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