European VC Atomico has closed its fourth fund at $765m, making it one of Europe’s largest tech funds to date.
The London-based firm invests in Series A rounds and onwards in companies it feels have achieved product/market fit and are ready to scale on a global level.
The new fund was first hinted at in an SEC filing last March and is a notable step up from the $476.6m Atomico raised for its third fund in 2013.
The firm’s fintech investments include London-based lenders LendInvest and Swedish payments unicorn Klarna.
Atomico’s founder and CEO Niklas Zennström said: “We’ve raised one of the biggest funds, and built the best operational team, in Europe to partner with the most ambitious entrepreneurs to help them become global category winners.”
The firm is keen to highlight the new fund as a vote of confidence for its so-called ‘value creation’ model where alongside raw capital Atomico also offers portfolio companies a team of support staff.
This team of seven partners sits separate from the firm’s eight investment partners and offers assistance in areas such as international market-entry and partnerships, user growth, product, hiring and retaining the best talent, marketing and communications.
Atomico partner and co-founder Mattias Ljungman said: “We invest everything we have, not just capital, in the best European founders.
“We’ve raised one of the biggest funds in Europe to unlock the potential of our best and most ambitious entrepreneurs – from Series A onwards.
“Now we have the capital to back more founders and we’ve built out the best value creation team in Europe to help them win.”
The new fund also comes as a sign of maintained confidence in European tech investments despite the turbulent geo-political environment in the wake of Brexit and upcoming French and German elections.
“We’ve advocated the strength and depth of European tech for over ten years and Europe is now producing some of the greatest technology companies in the world,” said Zennström.
“With a deep talent pool of engineers and tech hubs springing up from Lisbon to Tallinn, there’s never been a better time to be a founder in Europe.”
The firm says that despite European founders raising $14bn in funding across 2,4000 round in the tech sector last year, there is still a funding gap between seed or Series A round and later stage funding that the new fund aims to address.
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