Annie Vereecken

During the first part of her career in the 1980s, she, together with her team, developed Medhold Group, built it into a top player in the medical laboratory sector and changing the landscape of fertility, data handling and automation along the way. The group came under Australian leadership in 2010. During this trajectory, she was the driving force behind the NIPT test for Down’s syndrome and a test to detect cervical cancer. As a clinical biologist, she specialized in endocrine gynecology.

Together with Herman Verrelst and Katleen Vandersmissen, Vereecken founded HERAN Partners, a life sciences investment fund, focused on cutting-edge medtech and healthtech ventures, to further drive innovation and entrepreneurship in the sector. Vereecken strongly believes in the power of technology and AI  in unlocking and connecting all available data in fields such as genomics, proteomics and clinical patient data, thus making healthcare more efficient.

The basis of the new fund consisted of seven existing holdings operating on the intersection of medical technology and data: software company Ugentec, specializing in PCR and lab workflow analysis, Icometrix, which applies AI in radiology, big data companies such as Lynxcare and Ontoforce, genetics company Bluebee, which was sold to Illumnia in the course of 2020, and Lynxcare, a nanotechnology LC player, Pharmafluidics, and Fox Biosystems, a specialist in bio-sensor technology. Recently, Amaron, an interconnectivity player in health IT, was added to the HERAN portfolio.