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
Ares makes Australia private equity debut with majority stake in Redback Boots
Ares makes Australia private equity debut with majority stake in Redback Boots Ares Management has completed its first private equity deal in Australia with the acquisition of a majority stake in Redback Boots, valuing the work footwear manufacturer at more than...
KKR leads $700m raise for Saviynt, valuing identity security leader at $3bn
KKR leads $700m raise for Saviynt, valuing identity security leader at $3bn KKR has led a $700m Series B investment in Saviynt, valuing the identity security provider at about $3bn and marking one of the largest private equity-backed financings in the cybersecurity...
Blackstone joins BC Partners and Abrams in $907.5m US Salt acquisition as ContextLogic reinvents itself
Blackstone joins BC Partners and Abrams in $907.5m US Salt acquisition as ContextLogic reinvents itself BC Partners Credit and Abrams Capital are backing ContextLogic’s $907.5m acquisition of US Salt, marking the first major step in building a new business ownership...