Axel Polack

Dr. Axel Polack is a physician-scientist and life-science investor. TVM Capital Healthcare describes him as a key member of the TVM Capital Life Science team in Munich and Boston from 2000 to 2014, after earlier roles in business management and biomedical research. He holds an MD from the University of Freiburg and a PhD in virology and molecular oncology from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

Before joining TVM Capital, Polack was General Manager of Innovative Technologies Neuherberg GmbH, now Ascenion, and before that deputy head of an institute at a Helmholtz Center. In 2006, TVM promoted him from Partner to General Partner in its Life Sciences team.

In 2015, Polack became a General Partner at Joint Polish Investment Fund, a Warsaw-based life-science VC fund backed by Polish government and private capital. JPIF was reported as Poland’s first institutional venture fund dedicated to life sciences, with a first closing of $42 million / €38 million.

Polack later founded Polack Holding GmbH in 2020. The company describes itself as advising academics and startups in biotech and life sciences on business planning, positioning, and financing, and says it invests in selected early-stage companies. He is also a founder and leading scientific advisory board member at neotes, a longevity company founded in Berlin in 2020.

• JPIF invests in early-stage life-science companies, especially medtech, diagnostics, instrumentation, and digital health, with initial tickets of €500k-€1.5m and follow-on support through Series A, B, and C rounds.
• JPIF’s stated focus is life-science companies with “visible and near-term value inflection points” and a prospective holding period of 3-5 years.
• Polack has said JPIF’s first diligence screen looks at medical need, competition, team skills, and economic value; deeper diligence includes key opinion leader interviews, competitive positioning, and IP / freedom-to-operate analysis.
• He prefers superior technical quality and high innovation, saying he would rather see a new “disruptive” solution than a “me-better” version of something already on the market.
• JPIF pays special attention to Polish startups and Polish-linked teams because part of the capital originates from the Polish government.
• Through Polack Holding, he focuses on biotech, medical devices, and innovative startups, advising academics who want to form biotech / life-science companies and investing selectively in early-stage companies.