So that you can get to know the Thuja team a bit better, every newsletter features an interview with a team member.
This interview is with our Venture Partner Florian Ludwig. Since joining Thuja in 2016, Florian has worked in a number of roles and built broad expertise across all facets of medical device development. His academic education is in physics and, more specifically, biophysics – a melting pot of biology, (bio)chemistry, physics and medical sciences.
Let’s start with your ‘new’ role at Thuja as a venture partner. Can you tell us more about that?
I am in an unique position working on both sides of the fence as a venture partner at Thuja and as a CEO at Thuja portfolio company CardiacBooster. This dual role really speaks to Thuja’s ambition to support early ventures, not only with capital but also with the tools, expertise and resources to fuel their growth. With my ‘venture partner’ hat on, I help the team evaluate the medtech deal flow. That primarily includes highlighting critical considerations with respect to a potential investment opportunity. At Thuja, I serve as a board observer at Salvia Bioelectronics (see below). Combining the two appointments is not without challenges - but, overall, it also provides a benefit to both Thuja and CardiacBooster as quite a few learnings and insights translate on both sides.
What is your background?
I spent over 15 years in medical device development before joining Thuja in 2016. Early in my career, I spent six years in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the world’s leading hotbeds from medical device innovation. My academic education is in physics, and more specifically biophysics – a melting pot of biology, (bio)chemistry, physics, and medical sciences, which I find a great foundation for contributing to healthcare innovation.
What trends in healthcare do you find interesting?
There are so many fascinating developments – many of which Thuja has invested in. There is a lot of activity and focus on conquering both acute and chronic heart failure. This is where I expect CardiacBooster to have an impact and provide benefit to patients worldwide. Outside the cardiac arena, I find the emerging field of neuromodulation fascinating. Thuja’s portfolio company Salvia Electronics aims to provide a powerful treatment option for patients with chronic migraine. Also, I think that modulation of the immune system and inflammatory cascade will play an increasingly important role in treatment of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases such as auto-immune diseases. Thuja has a number of very interesting investments in this arena, including EsoBiotec and Pan Cancer T.
What drives and motivates you?
I am a healthcare innovator at heart. While I find the science behind advances in treatments and diagnostics fascinating, what really drives me is the ambition to help translate this science into new treatment and diagnostic modalities that improve the lives of patients.
What are your passion outside work?
I love the mountains and the outdoors. I like to hike, ski and rock climb. After moving to the Netherlands, I am trying to add wind and water sports to the list and have become passionate about kite surfing.
What do most people don’t know about you.
I am embarrassingly bad with names of actors and musicians. Once I was having dinner with a colleague of mine in a restaurant where the walls were plastered with innumerable photos of famous actors. He challenged me to name three of them for a beer. Let’s just say that I had to pay for drinks that evening.