Early-stage investor Balderton Capital has pulled in $375m for its latest fund.
The London-based firm’s sixth fund comfortably beats its predecessor, which raised $305m in 2014. The latest vehicle attracted commitments from new and returning investors from Europe, the US and Asia.
The vehicle will target technology start ups across Europe with multi-stage investments. The firm has is very active in the FinTech sector, with just this month, the firm leading the £6m Series A round into Zego, a London-based pay-as-you go insurance provider.
The capital raised brings the firm’s overall total raised to more than $2.5bn across six vehicles.
Balderton’s managing partner Bernard Liautaud said, “Europe’s technology sector has already produced many game-changing global companies, but we are still waiting for our continent’s very own Google, Amazon or Facebook to emerge. As European startups grow bigger faster, we are convinced that is finally about to change.”
The latest capital raised is not the firm’s biggest vehicle. Back in 2006, Balderton pulled in $550m for Fund III. Two years later the investor raised $430m for Fund IV.
Companies currently in the firm’s portfolio include Bitcoin solution Luno, with Balderton leading its $9m Series B, payment service provider GoCardless, which the firm backed in its $22.5m round, and student financing platform Prodigy Finance, after the investor supported its $40m Series C.
In a recent interview with FinTech Global, Balderton Capital’s Colin Hanna said the firm is looking at machine learning and social media opportunities, as they are yet to realise their full potential.
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