Seedcamp

Seedcamp
Limited liability company
Industry Venture capital
Founded May, 2007 (London, United Kingdom)
Headquarters Google Campus, 4-5 Bonhill Street, EC2A 4BX, London, UK
Key people
 Reshma Sohoni, Carlos Espinal
Products Investments
Website www.seedcamp.com

Seedcamp is Europe's seed fund.[1] Launched in May 2007 by a group of 30 European investors,[2]

As of August 2017, Seedcamp has a portfolio of over 250 companies who have gone on to raise over $1Bn in follow-on funding from leading investors across the globe. The Partners of the fund are Reshma Sohoni and Carlos Espinal.

In November 2017 Seedcamp announced the first close of its fourth fund at £41M - over 20x larger than the investor's first a decade earlier - with the plan to invest in 100 new startups from across Europe [3]

History

Seedcamp was originally created by Saul Klein and Reshma Sohoni to energize the next generation of European entrepreneurs to think big and take risks.[4] Participating VCs and advisors in Seedcamp's launch included Index Ventures, Atomico Investments, Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital, TAG, Forsyth Group and Brown Rudnick.[5] Carlos Espinal joined as Partner in 2010.[6]

In 2014, Seedcamp announced a €20million Seed fund, which enables the early-stage investor in invest up to €200,000 into rounds between €300,000 and €2M. Seedcamp has invested in 24 seed stage startups[7] from its Seed Fund as of September 2015. The fund focuses on providing investment for startups looking to scale globally, rather than focusing on the initial hurdle of getting up-and-running.[8]

In October 2017, Seedcamp announced the acquisition of its first two funds by public listed company, Draper Esprit. [9]. Seedcamp will maintain management of all companies, which includes fintech unicorn, TransferWise, as part of the sale.

In November 2017, Seedcamp announced the first close of a £41M seed fund to invest in 100 new startups across Europe. Seedcamp will lead pre-seed rounds with £100k and can anchor up to £250k by bringing angels and high net-worths into the round. Seedcamp will co-invest in seed rounds of up to £2M where there's already a lead investor on board. Seedcamp Fund IV consists of 60 LPs from across the globe including the likes of Index Ventures, Atomico, Draper Esprit, ADV, Idinvest, Korelya, Speedinvest and big business such as Investec, Thomas Cook Money, Unilever Ventures and MassMutual Ventures, marking the US-based insurer's first investment in Europe. [10]

Seedsummit

Seedcamp spearheaded Seedsummit along with key global partners: a platform aimed at making it easier for startup entrepreneurs to find the most active seed investors relevant to their business.[11] Significantly, Seedcamp was able to sign up 21 European investors agree on a standard term sheet for startups. Techcrunch presented this as a “historic move”.[12]

Performance and notable exits

In October 2016, Seedcamp revealed it had returned its first fund almost 2x over, breaking taboos on the traditionally secretive nature of fund performance and demonstrating the booming European tech scene.[13]

In January 2017 Seedcamp announced a small Secondary sale of its stake in fintech unicorn, Transferwise described as “one of the best European seed exits in recent years that wasn’t an acquisition or IPO”.[14]

Notable exits include: Mobclix bought by Velti for $50M,[15] RentMineOnline bought by RealPage for $9.5M ,[16] Crashpadder acquired by Airbnb[17] and Talasim acquired by Jeeran.[18]

Acquisition of Seedcamp Funds I & II by Draper Esprit in October 2017 delivering a 4x return to investors.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Your First Round Fund". seedcamp.com. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  2. ↑ "Featured Network Partners". Microsoft. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  3. ↑ https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/21/seedcamp-turns-10/
  4. ↑ "Interview with Seedcamp founder Saul Klein". Econsultancy. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  5. ↑ Arrington, Michael. "TechCrunch Partners With SeedCamp Europe". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  6. ↑ "Seedcamp gets serious". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  7. ↑ "Your First Round Fund". seedcamp.com. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  8. ↑ "Seedcamp Launches a Fund Focused on Helping Startups Achieve Longevity". The Next Web. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  9. ↑ https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/25/publicly-listed-uk-vc-draper-esprit-acquires-seedcamps-fund-i-ii-for-23-6m/
  10. ↑ http://seedcamp.com/seedcamp-iv-welcoming-the-next-generation-of-european-talent-with-our-biggest-and-boldest-seed-fund/
  11. ↑ "Seedsummit Brings Europe's Seed Investors Together for the First Time". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  12. ↑ "In A Historic Move 15 European Investors Agree on Standard Term Sheet for Startups". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
  13. ↑ "Seedcamp's fund performance shows booming European start-up scene". ft.com. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  14. ↑ "Seedcamp sells part of its stake in European unicorn TransferWise". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  15. ↑ "Mobclix Acquired by Mobile Marketing Company Velti". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  16. ↑ "Realpage Acquires RentMineOnline". NASDAQ. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  17. ↑ "Airbnb Buys Crashpadder its Largest UK Competitor". CNET. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  18. ↑ "Jeeran Acquires Talasim". The National. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  19. ↑ http://seedcamp.com/seedcamp-sells-funds-i-ii-to-draper-esprit-delivering-4x-return-to-investors/
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