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The Longbow Approved EIS fund and Longbow Arrowhead EIS fund opened 13 October.

The Approved fund has a target size of £5m in as many as eight unquoted investments and will close 3 October 2009.

The Arrowhead fund, aiming for £10m, will close by 31 December this year and run for three tax years.

Julian Hickman, partner at Longbow, said: "Longbow views healthcare as a defensive investment sector likely to do better than many in a downturn, but also as an exciting area for innovation - all driven by public-sector funding and an ageing population.

"Longbow's two new funds will invest in a diversified portfolio of unquoted, UK-based life sciences, health and wellbeing companies that can exploit their products and technologies globally."

According to Longbow, the UK is a global centre of life sciences and healthcare innovation, and the sector accounts for more than £32bn in revenue, employing more than 400,000 people.

The UK market is second only to the US in terms of funding. Driven by cash-rich large pharmaceuticals, UK spending on healthcare research and development is set to rise to £1.7bn by 2011-12.

Longbow plans to benefit from maturing pathways to commercialisation thanks to better technology transfer.

The London and Edinburgh-based company was co-creator of the Boots Centre for Innovation, which provides support and funding for new products and technologies. It recently raised £14m in its EIS portfolio service.