Finland-based venture capital firm Butterfly Ventures yesterday launched a €24m ($25m) seed fund called Butterfly Venture Fund III with backing from a range of corporate limited partners.
The fund’s LPs include insurance companies Elo Mutual Pension Insurance, Fennia Mutual Insurance and LocalTapiola Pohjoinen Mutual Insurance, information management services provider Gerako, executive search firm AI Partners and Tradeka-Invest, the investment arm of cooperative Tradeka.
Tekes Venture Capital, the investment arm of Tekes, the state-owned Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, also contributed.
Butterfly Venture Fund III is managed by Butterfly Ventures with VC and private equity firm Capital A Partners. It has secured more than half of its target and is currently open to additional investors.
The fund will invest in startups across the Nordic region, primarily focusing on Finland. It will identify opportunities in the internet-of-things, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality sectors, investing in hardware, software and digital technologies.
Tanya Marvin-Horowitz, managing partner at Capital A and partner at Butterfly Ventures, said: “We are excited to be working with such a successful and experienced Butterfly team as we embark on our first Nordic-based fund.
“Capital A has made investments in the Nordics since 2013; however, our partnership with Butterfly establishes a more substantial presence here and provides more resources to help build our portfolio companies into successful global enterprises.”
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global Government Venturing.