Transatlantic venture capital house Index Ventures has pulled in $1.65bn for two new funds to complete a rapid fundraising process that significantly outstrips its predecessor vehicles.
A blog post from the firm said that during its AGM in April there was unanimous agreement that it was time to raise new funds – and that by the end of June it had secured $650m for its ninth venture fund and $1bn for its fourth growth vehicle.
The new raises come just two years after Index pulled in $550m for its predecessor venture capital fund, and $700m for its third growth vehicle. Index was launched in Geneva in 1996, and has expanded to cover Europe, Israel and the US over the past 22 years.
Last month, Index Ventures-backed FinTech company Adyen launched its IPO, which saw its price surge in value. At the start of trading its shares increased by over 70 per cent, and as a result the company reached an enterprise valuation of €7.1bn.
Index Ventures has been a big investor in the FinTech market, having completed seven transactions in the space this year alone. Its most recent was a lead contribution to the $5m round of RegTech platform ClauseMatch.
In October 2017, Index Ventures joined Duo Security’s $70m funding round. The round, which was led Meritech Capital Partners, handed the Cybersecurity company a post-money valuation of $1.17bn.
Other FinTech deals this year include, a contribution to the €23m round of InsurTech app Alan, $15m Series A of bookkeeping platform Pilot and the $40m Series D of payroll solution Justworks.
A blog post from Index revealing the fundraises said, “We started off with modest offices, a handful of partners, and a determination to build a European venture firm with a Silicon Valley sensibility. We knew there was huge potential in the tech ecosystem in Europe, which was developing rapidly, and was often overlooked by Silicon Valley–based investors…
“Fast forward two decades and Europe’s tech ecosystem has never been stronger, and continues to produce ever more successful businesses. And we hope that we had a small role to play in this transformation. We took the same approach when we opened our office in San Francisco seven years ago, bringing European insight to an introspective market.
“We were first seen as outsiders because of our European roots and faced intense competition, but we stuck to our vision and hustled. And so far in the US, we’ve rung the bell on six IPOs including Etsy and Pure Storage, and have invested in more than fifty transformational companies like Aurora, Bird, Glossier, Good Eggs, Sonos and Robinhood.”
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
