European VC firm Draper Espirit has raised £160m for its new tech fund. The London-based firm counts crowdfunding platform Crowdcube and payments hardware-maker Miura Systems among its FinTech investments.
The company says that unlike traditional VC funds where investments are made over five years with another five used to show return, it will deploy the fund over the course of one year.
It says this patient capital allow the firm to spend more time helping its portfolio companies to grow with 70% of the fund reserved for follow-on investments.
Draper Espirit raised £153m through an IPO last year and raised £100m of the new fund through an over-subscribed placing from new and existing institutional investors.
The £100m adds to the £60m the firm raised earlier in 2017 across its EIS, VCT and secondary co-investment fund platforms.
Draper Espirit CEO Simon Cook commented: “Much has been written about the uncertain future that British VC fundraising faces in the wake of Brexit.
“At Draper Esprit we believe our industry can find new investors and that the UK can continue to play a significant role in leading the wider European VC market.
“As a permanent capital listed company, dual-listed in the UK and Ireland, we can access public markets by offering a partnership model with investors who wouldn’t otherwise have access to, or the capacity to actively manage.
“These type of investments; as well as reinvesting our realisations from exits into the next generation of tech businesses each year without the need to raise a new fixed life private fund every 5 years.â€
The firm says the fund will invest in hardware, digital health, SaaS and consumer technology at series A and B and beyond.
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