Today Speedinvest, a European venture capital fund with offices in London, Berlin, Vienna, Munich and San Francisco, launches its third flagship fund of €190 million, surpassing its original target ahead of schedule due to high investor demand.
Unlike typical European venture capital funds managed by small partnerships or teams, Speedinvest has 40 investment professionals working across five, sector-focused investment teams, along with 20 operational experts providing portfolio companies with full-service HR, growth marketing, business development, and US expansion support.
Working from five cities across Europe, and writing initial tickets from €50K up to €1.5 million, the sector-focused investment teams will invest in fintech, deeptech, marketplaces, industrial tech, digital health and consumer tech startups, supplying the selected early-stage businesses with the time, sector expertise and value-adding operational resources they need to scale.
CEO Oliver Holle said: “Having been a founder myself, I have a clear view on value creation by investors. You need to deliver sector-specific, operationally relevant input that goes far beyond boardroom advice and cash. In our experience, the best way to do that is to be face-to-face with our founders. That is our mission and our promise to founding teams across Europe. And we invest heavily in the resources required to back it up.”
The €190 million fund sets aside €100 million in follow-on funding to enable Speedinvest to double-down on its most promising companies, while continuing to draw on its global network of Tier 1 lead investors for follow-on rounds.
Speedinvest’s portfolio now includes some of Europe’s fastest growing tech companies, such as wefox (€235 million Series B), TIER Mobility (€55 million Series B) and Curve (€50 million Series B), along with rising stars CoachHub, TWAICE, Billie, TourRadar, Inkitt and Luko.
Julian Teicke, Founder and CEO of wefox Group, says: “Speedinvest has been a value-add partner from the very beginning. They not only helped us establish a successful framework for testing and optimizing our growth and marketing strategy, but have also been instrumental in our international expansion efforts.”
Its two previous flagship funds have also recorded impressive performances, with the first returning more than five times gross, and an overall historic fund performance in the top 25 percent of global VC/PE funds. As a result, 100 percent of cornerstone investors have returned. Scheduled to be finalised in Q2 2020, major commitments include EIF, ERSTE Bank, and US based NEA, one of the world’s largest venture capital firms.