Joël Besse
About Joël Besse
Over the past 33 years, Joël Besse has dedicated his career to the advancement of life sciences through various roles including investor, co-founder, manager, and advisor of startup companies and venture-capital funds. His passion and expertise have been instrumental in the growth and success of a number of emerging companies and VC funds in this sector. Joël began his professional journey as an auditor with Arthur Andersen and Credit Lyonnais in Paris. He then transitioned into venture capital, becoming the Managing Director of SED Ventures, which was later acquired by Paul Capital. Here, Joël oversaw a portfolio of investments in biotech and medtech startups based in France and the United States. His venture capital journey continued at Atlas Venture, where he served as a Managing Partner leading the European Life Sciences team of the $2b firm. In this role, Joël led seed to Series B financings and held board positions in multiple life sciences startups. Among his portfolio were notable companies such as Actelion Ltd, Newron Pharmaceuticals SPA, Nitec Pharma AG, Novamed Pharma Inc, U3 Pharma AG, Novuspharma SpA and Novexel SA. These companies, through acquisitions and their own efforts, led to the lauch of multiple innovative and life-saving medicines, on global markets. Joël currently leads Momentum Biotech, a group of private investors focusing on impact-driven, life-sciences startup companies. From 2018 until 2023, he served as CEO and later Chairman of the Board of NFL Biosciences SA (PA: ALNFL), a company developing botanical medicines against addictions. Joël holds an MSc in Aerospace Engineering from ISAE-SUPAERO and an MSc in Theoretical Mechanics.