Building biotech in times of uncertainty
Insights, lessons, and reasons to keep going
Biotech’s in a tough spot right now. The Covid pandemic pushed biotech valuations to all-time highs in 2021, but the momentum didn’t last. As interest rates climbed, the market shifted, and valuations came back down to earth. Fast forward to 2025, public markets remain cautious, the IPO window is shut, and recent shakeups at the FDA have only added to the noise. Private markets aren’t much better off, and early-stage startups are facing major headwinds. In fact, Q1 2025 saw the lowest number of new biotech startups in the US in over a decade. The Netherlands saw a similar trend, with new company formation sharply dropping in 2024.
So, is this the worst time ever to build biotechs? Possibly not!
As Bruce Booth put it recently in one of his essays: “The startups that are being created today – the few and the proud – will likely be the emerging stars of 2030’s.”
Some would even say is’s a great time to build: leaner, more concentrated, and with less competition. There’s history to back that up too. For instance, Alnylam was born in the middle of the 2002 biotech “nuclear winter,” and argenx came out of the 2008 financial crisis before becoming one of Europe’s biggest biotech success stories.
As co-lead of Nucleate Netherlands, a student-led initiative, I’ve seen these challenges affect our community, but also the energy and creativity people are bringing to face them. Despite all the headwinds, some are still building - and that’s worth celebrating!
On June 11, we hosted an event in Leiden - one of the Netherlands’ major biotech hubs - to shine a spotlight on our ecosystem and showcase the amazing startups that came out as finalists from our Activator program, Nucleate’s incubator.
We also took on the big question: what does it take to build during uncertain times? I had the chance to moderate a panel with four amazing speakers: Annemiek Verkamman (Managing Director, hollandbio), Ivan Burkov (General Partner, Inkef), Digvijay Gahtory (CEO, BIMINI Biotech), and Sijme Zeilemaker (CBO, Sapreme Technologies). Their collective experience spans the full spectrum of biotech, from policy and investing to fundraising and building companies from the ground up.
The audience was mostly grad students and early-career scientists, and the advice from the panel was super practical. Honestly, it doesn’t just apply to tough times like these - it’s useful no matter what the market looks like.
So I’ve put together seven takeaways from the conversation - clear, simple ideas that stuck with me and I think are worth sharing:
You can still raise.
Yes, raising a seed round is hard - but not impossible. Funding is still out there: public grants, angel investors, and early-stage VCs (don’t forget to look beyond the Benelux. There are opportunities across Europe and the US). If you have a well-crafted story and a realistic path forward, you can still raise.
Investors are more risk-averse.
You really need to understand where the investors are coming from. They also have to raise money from their own backers - and right now, that’s not easy either. They have fewer bets they can make, so this isn’t the best time for moonshot ideas or cool tech searching for a purpose. Start with a real problem, and build a clear, realistic path to solving it.
Marketing matters.
Get a mentor and learn to tell your story well. As scientists, we’re often trained to communicate from the inside out. But what you need is the opposite. Start with: why should anyone care? That’s what your audience is asking.
Reach out to pharma early.
Ask: how can I get my company to a stage where pharma might care? Early feedback from pharma is incredibly valuable. It helps validate your idea and signals to investors what it will take to get commercial traction. Just know: partnering with pharma takes time. For preclinical companies, it can easily take 3+ years from first contact to a signed deal.
Who you talk to really matters.
Whether you’re speaking with pharma, early-stage VCs, or late-stage investors, you need to find the few people who really believe in you. As a founder, part of your job is to develop the instinct for getting your deck in front of the right people.
When it comes to VCs, especially in this market, you need to connect with someone at the partner level (or close to it), even if it’s just for a quick call. That’s where the decisions get made. And be prepared: closing a round in this climate can still take up to a year.
Stack your team with experience.
The harsh truth is: if you're a young founder, you’ll be discounted. Investors want to see experience. Not just grey hair or years in the lab, but commercial experience that shows you’ve been in the game. If your founding team doesn’t have that, bring in experienced advisors.
Unless you’re already well-connected, this will take time. First, you need to build enough traction and evidence to get those people to believe in you. But once they do, they can be a huge asset in shaping your story, avoiding early mistakes, and opening doors.
That said, it’s a better time to start than 10 years ago.
Organizations like Nucleate exist to help academic trainees take the leap. And there are more early-stage investors who can back you from the very beginning, if you’re prepared.