Venture capital firm Balderton Capital has raised a new $375m fund to support a new generation of European-born global tech businesses.
The latest fund has been raised from new and existing investors from Europe, the US and Asia, as the continents tech sector reaches a pivotal moment.
London-based Balderton said a critical mass of fast-growing companies, ambitious entrepreneurs, top tier technical talent and access to multi-stage investment means that Europe’s next global giant is set to be a technology company.
“Europe’s technology sector has already produced many game-changing global companies, but we are still waiting for our continent’s very own Google, Amazon or Facebook to emerge,” said Balderton Capital managing partner Bernard Liautaud.
“As European start-ups grow bigger faster, we are convinced that is finally about to change.
“With growth accelerating – this year to date European companies have attracted more than $12.5bn of venture investments – the continent can now produce and scale tech businesses of global significance.”
“From AI to gaming, and music to messaging, Europe has built up reservoirs of world-class expertise which has inspired a generation of entrepreneurs with ten times the ambition of a decade ago,” he added.
Balderton has backed the likes of MySQL, Betfair, The Hut Group and Yoox Net-a-Porter, as well as fast-growing tech firms including data analytics company Talent, AI start-up Magic Pony, independent music services company Kobalt and mobile gaming business NaturalMotion.