Birker Bahnsen

Birker B. Bahnsen is a Managing Director at TA Associates in London and head of the firm's Europe Healthcare Group. TA says he joined the firm in 2009, has more than 15 years of private equity experience, and has led six investments at TA while co-sponsoring four additional investments.

Before TA, Bahnsen was an Associate Director at HgCapital and an Associate at Goldman, Sachs & Co. His education includes an MSc in Behavioral and Cognitive Science from the University of Oxford, an MEng in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge, and a BA in Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

At TA, Bahnsen's board representation has included current roles with Biocomposites, Diatech Pharmacogenetics, Elos Medtech and Nexus AG, active investor involvement with Agilio Software and Inspired, and former board roles or involvement with Amann Girrbach, Internationella Engelska Skolan, MIS Implants Technologies and PhysIOL.

• Focuses on European healthcare growth investing, especially companies in medical technology, healthcare IT, life science tools, pharma services and specialized healthcare.
• TA's healthcare strategy is to partner with companies that support "better access to higher-quality, more affordable care."
• TA's model is not seed or angel investing: the firm says its equity investments range from $150 million to $600 million and can support shareholder liquidity, growth working capital and acquisition financing.
• Prefers management-team partnerships in either minority or majority positions; TA describes itself as an active board-level investor while leaving day-to-day operations to company management.
• Looks for companies that can scale organically and through M&A. TA says Bahnsen has partnered with founders and management teams to accelerate organic and acquired growth, with a focus on innovation.
• In Diatech, Bahnsen highlighted "organic and inorganic growth opportunities" and expansion of the company's addressable market and product portfolio.
• In Biocomposites, he emphasized international scale, diversified product expansion and alignment with growing market demand and patient needs.