International investment firm Target Global has launched its €120 million Early Stage Fund II, to continue its support of early stage tech companies across Europe and Israel.
The focus of the new fund will be on leading and co-leading Seed and Series A rounds. With the new fund, the firm will double-down on its strategy to systematically identify and connect new European startup hubs, providing entrepreneurs with support and capital across Europe and move towards its purpose of fostering growth and innovation in the European ecosystem.
Target Global has already backed category leaders such as Auto1, Delivery Hero, wefox, TravelPerk and Rapyd, and is ranked among the top 10 European early-stage investors. With a proven scope and team, the Berlin-headquartered firm will continue to focus on startups that are disrupting truly European, trillion-Euro industries (retail, financial services, food, mobility, healthcare, and manufacturing organizations) by bringing technologies such as SaaS, marketplace and ecommerce, and AI to these industries.
“There has never been a better time for early-stage investments in Europe: we’re seeing excellent founding teams building global category leaders in truly European industries, and that’s a key element of our investment thesis,” says Shmuel Chafets, General Partner and Vice-Chairman at Target Global. “At the same time, European ecosystems have seen a step change in recent years in quality, scale and a community of experienced entrepreneurs. We are excited to be backing innovators and disruptors both in B2B and B2C markets.”
The firm has also announced that Dr Ricardo Schäfer has been appointed as a new Partner for Early-Stage Fund II. He will be leading the firm’s early-stage investments in the London office. He is a serial angel investor and an early backer of Revolut, and has been part of Seedcamp’s investment team, as well as a Venture Partner with Cherry Ventures.
“We are happy to strengthen our London team with such an experienced and successful early-stage investor. With his focus on FinTech and PropTech, and a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach, we feel that it’s an excellent match both for our Target Global investment strategy and our culture,” said Alex Frolov, General Partner and CEO at Target Global.
