European venture capital newcomer BlueYard Capital has pulled in more than €110m for the final close of its second fund.
The capital raise is almost exactly the same amount BlueYard raised for its debut fund in 2016, which has been used to invest across fintech, web decentralisation technology, sustainable food and specialist software.
Berlin-based BlueYard was launched by Ciarán O’Leary and Jason Whitmire, former partners at German VC firm Earlybird.
A Medium post from the firm detailing the new raise said, “When we began imagining BlueYard in summer of 2015, the original thesis was ‘democratising technologies’ – what we meant were technologies that would distribute capabilities, level the playing field, open markets.
“Over time the thesis refined to ‘the decentralization of markets, the empowerment of users and the liberation of data’.
“…we continue to spend time learning and evolving our views on anything from how quantum computing can, via quantum chemistry simulations (fertilizers, catalytic converters, electric batteries, etc), help us use the planet’s resources better, what operating systems for life and the future of manufacturing, engineering and medicine could look like, to how AI/ML can enhance and threaten human capabilities at the same time — amongst a range of other topics.”
Last August Earlybird closed its sixth early-stage tech fund on its €175m hard cap to continue its backing of European tech companies.
The Digital West vehicle was oversubscribed thanks to backing from institutional limited partners and corporate companies, including a £16m commitment from London-based venture capital firm Draper Esprit.
Draper will continue to invest £15m each year into the fund until 2022, with the moves marking the first step towards a potential merger between the pair, the FT reported at the time.
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