UK-based venture capital firm SeedFund closed its fourth fund at £41m ($54.3m) today, having secured contributions from limited partners including subsidiaries of consumer goods producer Unilever, travel agency Thomas Cook and insurer MassMutual.
Unilever Ventures, Thomas Cook Money and MassMutual Ventures were joined by The UK government’s British Business Bank, which TechCrunch reported was the fund’s anchor investor, as part of a group of 60 corporates, venture capitalists and funds-of-funds.
Accelerated Digital Ventures, Draper Esprit, Index Ventures, Atomico, Idinvest Partners, Underscore Ventures, Speedinvest, Korelya Capital, LocalGlobe and HenQ were also among the fund’s limited partners.
Founded in 2007, SeedCamp is an accelerator that has branched out into early-stage VC investments, having closed its £20m third fund in 2014. The firm sold its first two funds to VC firm Draper Esprit for $23.6m last month, almost a threefold increase on their initial size.
The firm expects to invest in 100 Europe-based startups through Seedcamp Fund IV, and will reserve funds to participate in follow-on rounds through to series B stage, and in cryptotoken offerings.
SeedCamp can lead pre-seed rounds with up to £100,000 of funding, or anchor investments of up to £250,000 by harnessing its angel investor network. It will provide up to £400,000 at seed stage and up to £2m for series A or B rounds if a lead investor is already in place.
Companies that have received funding from SeedCamp include cross-border financial transfer platforms TransferWise, which just closed a round at a $1bn valuation, and Revolut as well as Zemanta, the adtech developer acquired by online advertising platform OutBrain in July 2017.
The firm said in a statement: “While our investment approach and offering has evolved, the core of what Seedcamp stands for remains the same with our founders and our global community at the centre of everything we do.
“With our new fund, we look forward to continuing to back the most ambitious, globally-minded talent and connecting the European ecosystem to help them achieve outsized outcomes.”