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
Blackstone consortium tables bid for $1.5bn UK aerospace supplier Senior
Blackstone consortium tables bid for $1.5bn UK aerospace supplier Senior Blackstone has joined a consortium that submitted a non-binding cash offer for Senior Plc, the British aerospace components manufacturer with a market capitalisation of approximately £1.2bn, or...
Neuberger Berman leads $500m Nvidia-backed Ayar Labs round at $3.75bn valuation
Neuberger Berman leads $500m Nvidia-backed Ayar Labs round at $3.75bn valuation Neuberger Berman has led a $500m Series E investment in Ayar Labs, valuing the Nvidia-backed semiconductor company at $3.75bn. The round brings Ayar Labs’ total funding to $870m and...
Capital Group and KKR expand public-private push with first equity strategy
Capital Group and KKR expand public-private push with first equity strategy Capital Group and KKR have expanded their public-private investment partnership with the launch of Capital Group KKR U.S. Equity+, marking their first integrated equity strategy. The new...