Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s leading technology venture capital firms, announced today its $615 million Early Stage Fund IX and $685 million Growth Fund II, to back ambitious entrepreneurs from seed stage through IPO across Europe.
There was a lot of investor demand for Early Stage Fund IX and Growth Fund II, which marked the first time Balderton raised its early and growth funds simultaneously. And the increasingly global mix of LPs in the firm’s funds have been attracted to Balderton’s European focus and track record of success during its 25 year history. This includes one of the largest public state pensions in the US, building out a selective European VC portfolio, and British Patient Capital, the UK’s largest domestic investor in venture and venture growth opportunities.
The growth of the European technology ecosystem created strong returns for investors. And European VC funds outperformed North American funds over a 10- and 15-year period (Data from Invest Europe and Cambridge Associates).
Since its founding in 2000, Balderton has invested in over 275 technology companies across Europe. The current portfolio includes global category leaders such as Revolut, Dream Games, GoCardless, Contentful, Aircall, Wayve, Writer, and PhotoRoom. Many previous portfolio companies have successfully exited, such as Darktrace, Depop, MySQL, Peakon, Recorded Future, Talend, and THG.
Balderton also takes unprecedented steps to support founders through its industry-leading Balderton Founder Wellbeing and Performance platform. This includes executive coaching, peer to peer support in CEO Forums, a health and fitness program and access to a digital platform for parent founders.
With Balderton’s 65 team members across Europe, $1.3 billion in new funds, and a strong portfolio of 125+ companies, the firm is excited to continue its work of partnering with Europe’s top entrepreneurs as they build world-changing companies.
KEY QUOTES:
“At Balderton, we believe the best way to change the world is to build a business – and that many of these world-changing businesses will be built in Europe. As a firm, our mission is simple: to be the partner of choice to the founders starting and growing those European technology companies. These new funds put us in a position to do just that.”
- Bernard Liautaud, Managing Partner at Balderton
