France-based venture capital firm Singular has raised €225m ($265m) for the close of its first fund, which was backed by insurance firms Axa and MACSF, TechCrunch reported on Monday.
Axa invested in the fund through corporate venturing arm Axa Venture Partners, while its other limited partners (LPs) included pension fund manager Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, development bank BPIfrance, Mubadala Capital, Vintage Investment Partners and Sofina.
The vehicle also secured commitments from unspecified pension funds, funds-of-funds, sovereign funds and family offices. The firm began the fundraising process in late 2019.
Singular was founded by Raffi Kamber and Jérémy Uzan, former partners at France-based VC firm Alven. The firm will primarily participate in series A and B rounds for European technology startups, investing as much as €20m per deal.
The firm will take part in late-stage rounds through special-purpose investment vehicles it will form with its LPs. This structure enables portfolio companies to access follow-on funding from Singular’s LPs instead of seeking out other late-stage investors.
Singular has already backed six portfolio companies so far including data monitoring platform operator Soda and accounting automation software developer Indy.