News & insights

Mercedes Tuin (NL) joins HERAN Partners to further support growth and international expansion

September 4, 2025 - Antwerp (BE)

HERAN Partners is very happy to welcome Mercedes Tuin to the team in the role of Partner. As many of us, she combines an education in both sciences and business holding a degree in Biomedical Sciences and an MBA. She complements this with both extensive operational experience in business development and venture capital within the life sciences sector. During the past seven years, she has built out and headed the life sciences portfolio of BOM (Brabantse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij), providing a strong foundation to further grow HERAN both in expertise and in network.

I was drawn to HERAN because of its clear mission, values, and the team's genuine commitment to making a difference in life sciences and healthcare. The firm strikes a rare balance between strategic thinking, scientific understanding and personal engagement with founders which are all essential to creating real impact.

Mercedes Tuin, Partner

Powerful balance between rigorous analysis and empathy

HERAN’s support for transformative healthcare goes beyond capital. It’s about building trust and offering strategic guidance, a vision that resonates with Mercedes. She believes in bringing impactful technologies to patients and values HERAN’s rare balance of rigorous analysis and empathy in helping founders stay true to their mission.

We are very happy to welcome Mercedes on board of HERAN Partners to further grow the organisation and expand our network. Due to her combination of a solid scientific background, all-round experience and expertise both in operations as in venture capital, she is very well equipped to complete the partner team of Raf (Roelands), Herman (Verrelst) and myself. Moreover we saw in her an excellent match with our HERAN DNA and way of working, illustrated in her drive, hands-on approach and passion for innovation and impact.

Katleen Vandersmissen, Managing Partner

Making a measurable impact on healthcare

Care delivery is often complex, and Mercedes is working to simplify and strengthen it through innovation. At HERAN, she’s focused on building long-term partnerships, supporting strong teams, and shaping the future of healthcare investing.

Healthcare touches every life. Being part of something that improves outcomes and access, while empowering brilliant founders, is both intellectually fulfilling and personally meaningful.

Mercedes Tuin, Partner

We’re pleased to welcome Mercedes to the partnership. Her track record, coupled with a highly complementary network and strong interpersonal and leadership skills, will further strengthen our investment team. As we continue to scale our platform and deepen our focus on enabling technologies in life science research and health care delivery, this addition reinforces our commitment to building a high-conviction, high-performing team capable of sourcing and supporting transformative innovations for the long term.

Raf Roelands, Partner

Mercedes' quick scan

Education

MSc in Biomedical Sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and an MBA at Rotterdam School of Management (RSM).

Experience

Mercedes was Investment Director at BOM, where she led a team building one of the Netherlands' most active health investment portfolios.

Personal passion

Mercedes enjoys teaching and mentoring, and has a keen interest in behavioral biology. Understanding why people do what they do is endlessly fascinating to her, and often highly relevant in both business and healthcare.

Inspired by

Mercedes is inspired by inventors, people who look at the world and see what’s missing, then go build it. She’s also deeply inspired by her children. Their curiosity, resilience and honest questions keep her grounded and motivated.

5 words

Strategic
Insightful
Empathetic
Driven
Collaborative

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