UK-based venture capital fund Stride.VC has closed its inaugural fund at just over £50m ($65.5m) with backing from limited partners including classified listings operator MPI, TechCrunch reported on Monday.
MPI, which was spun off by media group Schibsted last month, was joined by holding company Compagnie Nationale a Portefeuille, Draper Esprit, Delin Capital Korelya Capital and Entree Capital.
The LP list was rounded out by individual investors including Alex Chesterman, Henri Moissinac, Garrett Curran, Ahmed Husain, Riccardo Zacconi and Stephane Kurgan.
Founded by Fred Destin, formerly a partner at VC firm Accel, and Harry Stebbings, the host of podcast The Twenty Minute VC, Stride will focus on seed-stage investments in UK-based startups. The fund will allocate roughly £1.5m per deal but could invest more if required.
Destin and Stebbings told TechCrunch: “We are happy to write those larger checks when it matters most, when the data is ambiguous, the startups are still raw and constant change is the name of the game.
“We embrace the chaos that can surround a business at that stage. We do not make assumptions and ensure we can all question and challenge each other to make the best decisions. Our intention is to weaponise both the expertise and the ignorance of everybody around the table.”
