Axa Venture Partners (AVP), the corporate venturing arm of France-headquartered insurance group Axa, has raised $150m for the first close of its second early-stage fund.
AVP Early Stage II has already collected more capital than its predecessor, which closed at $110m in 2015 with commitments from undisclosed new and existing investors.
Formerly known as Axa Strategic Ventures before rebranding in April 2018, AVP now manages $600m in assets and has backed more than 40 companies. It invests through growth and early-stage funds as well as ASV Diversified, the $175m fund-of-funds scheme it launched in late 2017.
The fund will target pre-revenue and early-revenue companies with a focus on financial technology and digital health, as well as enterprise software, consumer technologies and services aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises.
AVP Early Stage II will initially invest up to $6m in each startup and will offer business development opportunities to its portfolio companies.
The unit’s existing investments include field marketing app developer ForceManager, blockchain technology developer Blockstream, cloud cybersecurity software provider SecurityScorecard, short-term accommodation platform Lyric and online insurance platform One.
Francois Robinet, AVP’s managing partner, said: “This fundraise was completed at a record speed with existing and new investors. This is a strong vote of confidence for our team and strategy, and a recognition of what has been achieved with our first early stage fund.
“We plan to hold Paris, London, New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong a second closing with additional new investors. This fundraise strengthens AVP’s positioning as a leading player for ambitious entrepreneurs across Europe and North America.”