Max Klement

Max Klement is a life-science venture investor who joined Novo Holdings' Venture Investments team in 2022 and is based in its London office, where he identifies and evaluates investment opportunities across the life-science sector. Before Novo, he spent roughly three years (from 2019) as a Principal at BioGeneration Ventures (BGV), an Amsterdam/Naarden-based VC specializing in early-stage European life-science companies, where he focused on investments in Europe and the US and led multiple company-creation initiatives.

His career began on the operating side of biotech. He was a founding team member at Hummingbird Bioscience, serving as project manager for pharmaceutical and academic collaborations in gastric and liver cancer. He then joined JHL Biotech / Eden Biologics (a biologics CDMO and biosimilars company), where he led the Process Development team and managed projects for novel and biosimilar biologics. This blend of hands-on drug-development experience and venture investing shapes his approach to early therapeutics companies.

Academically, Max holds a PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the National University of Singapore, completed as an **A*STAR fellow in the lab of Prof. Miranda Yap, where his work on antibody-engineering approaches culminated in a commercial out-licensing agreement. He earned a BS in Biochemical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine, and an MBA from INSEAD (2018)**.

• Invests in early-stage / seed life-science companies, with an emphasis on therapeutics platforms and academic spin-outs — and is actively involved in de-novo company creation rather than only backing existing startups.
• At BGV, his documented parameters were roughly $100K–$1M checks (~$500K sweet spot) at seed; at Novo Holdings he participates in larger venture rounds.
• Deep technical grounding in antibody engineering, protein engineering, immunology/immuno-oncology, and complement biology — areas where his PhD and operating background let him diligence the science directly.
• Focus geographies are Europe and the United States, reflecting cross-Atlantic deal work at both BGV and Novo.
• His talk at LSX Europe — *"Inside the Investor Mind: How Biotech VCs Are Making Decisions Today"* — signals interest in disciplined, milestone-driven venture decision-making in biotech.