The fundraising completes a busy week for European venture capital investors
Northzone, the venture capital business specialising in European technology investments, has closed its largest fund to date at $500m.
The fund will invest the money in early-stage tech firms in both Europe and the US east coast, adding to a portfolio that includes the likes of Spotify, the music-streaming service, and the payments business Klarna.
The fund will seek investments in any industry constrained by dated technology, including financial services, healthcare, education, mobility and construction. It has already made three investments.
Northzone, founded in 1996, has invested in more than 150 start-ups to date. Its latest fund, which is its ninth, brings the total amount of money raised by the company to €1.5bn.
The news comes a week after rival venture investment firm Balderton Capital secured $400m from investors. Both firms flagged the appeal of the European tech sector to global investors.
The two companies also share an interest in the fintech sector. As well as Klarna, Northzone holds investments in the fintech lenders Zopa and MarketFinance, the open-banking business TrueLayer and iZettle, the payments company.
“It’s one of the themes that we spend a lot of time on,” said Paul Murphy, general partner at Northzone, in an interview with Financial News.
Both Northzone and Balderton are invested in Zopa, the peer-to-peer lender that is involved in a race to raise more than £100m to meet a critical December 3 deadline linked to the launch of its new bank. The firm is working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to secure the cash, as reported by Financial News on November 11.
Murphy said Northzone is excited by Zopa’s prospects, and that the ecosystem of later-stage growth investors in Europe remains vibrant.
He added: “I think there’s a lot of factors at play with a lot of different companies… Growth fund to growth fund are not apples to apples in terms of what they’re looking for.”
Northzone did not disclose which companies invested in its latest fund, but Murphy said it was a mix of pension funds, fund-of-funds in Europe, larger family offices in Europe and Asia and US endowment funds.
Source: Financial News
Can’t stop reading? Read more
Bain Capital-backed Classys expands in South America with $13m acquisition of Brazil’s JL Health
Bain Capital-backed Classys expands in South America with $13m acquisition of Brazil’s JL Health Bain Capital-backed Classys Inc. has acquired JL Health Participacoes S.A., Brazil’s largest aesthetic device retailer, for 18.27bn won ($13m), strengthening its footprint...
Spanish investor Qualitas seeks €3.25bn for sixth fund focused on energy transition deals
Spanish investor Qualitas seeks €3.25bn for sixth fund focused on energy transition deals Qualitas Energy is raising €3.25bn ($3.8bn) for its latest renewable energy fund, positioning itself to capitalise on a new wave of consolidation across Europe’s clean-energy...
Goldman Sachs launches ETF tracking private equity-like returns through MSCI index partnership
Goldman Sachs launches ETF tracking private equity-like returns through MSCI index partnership Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has introduced a new exchange-traded fund designed to replicate the performance characteristics of private equity portfolios, in...