National Grid Partners, the corporate venturing arm of utility National Grid, has backed a $175m fund closed yesterday by UK-based deep tech-focused venture capital firm IQ Capital.
IQ Capital Fund III’s limited partners also include British Patient Capital, an investment fund of government-owned British Business Bank.
The fund was oversubscribed, with more than 90% of limited partners from Fund II returning for the new vehicle. Their identities were not revealed, however.
The fund will focus on seed and series A-stage companies. IQ Capital has already made a dozen investments through the fund over the past year and the firm has achieved an overall portfolio value of more than $1.2bn.
In addition to Fund III, IQ Capital has also launched the $125m Growth Opportunities Fund to focus on later-stage investments.
The fund’s inaugural investment is Privitar, a UK-based data protection software provider that raised a $40m series B round last month also backed by Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise software producer Salesforce.
Lisa Lambert, founder and president of National Grid Partners said: “IQ Capital impressed our team on many levels, not least in having one of the most experienced female general partners in the UK, Kerry Baldwin.
“The firm is positioned as the go-to deep tech fund in the EU, and the team has a proven ability to connect with founders through all stages, from seed to exit.”
