It follows an impressive year for Northzone with exits including the successful IPO of Tobii, and the sale of Avito in one of the largest venture-backed tech M&A deals in Europe. The fund also completed a number of new investments, including in Finnish companies Seriously and Zervant.
Jeppe Zink, Partner, comments: “Despite the turbulent market conditions, this has been our fastest fundraise ever, coming on the tail of a great year returning significant funds to our investors. For the past 20 years we had the honour of being chosen as a partner for growth by entrepreneurs who have had a transformative effect on the European tech scene. This new fund enables us to continue our work supporting the best companies.”
One of the longest established players in Europe, Northzone has a strong history of backing leading tech companies. The fund was an early investor in Spotify, Trustpilot and iZettle, and more recently, in companies like Wallapop, Lesara and Klarna. The new fund will continue to focus on early stage investments in Europe.
Bjørn Stray, Partner, comments: “We look for entrepreneurs who have the ambition and potential to grow their businesses in multiple markets. By investing early and backing companies to scale, and with the networks and operational experience of our team, we are in a unique position to work with our companies for the long-term.”
Finnish Industry Investment gave a commitment to the new Northzone fund. Tapio Passinen, Investment Director at Finnish Industry Investment comments: ”Northzone has a great track record of investing in the success stories of the future. With our commitment to the new fund, we intend to bring Finnish deal flow closer to the Northzone team. Recent investments in Seriously and Zervant show the potential of Finnish technology companies in Northzone’s investment focus.”
Northzone has offices in Stockholm, London, New York and Oslo. The fund has strengthened its team with Michiel Kotting joining as Partner from Accel in London, and Jessica Nilsson, co-founder of HelloFresh, being promoted to Partner in Stockholm. Also joining the investment team are Christopher Steinau, co-founder of uncover, in London, and Wendy Xiao Schadeck, co-founder of CoHatchery, in New York.
Notes to editors
– Northzone is an Investment Partnership, founded in 1996. It is one of the most experienced venture capital funds in Europe. Northzone has raised 8 funds to date, and with the latest, NZVIII, Northzone has around €1 bn under management.
– Investors in Northzone VIII were a mix of a large number of previous investors in funds advised by Northzone, as well as some new, top tier institutional investors who approached Northzone with a desire to participate in the new fund.
– In 2015 and 2016, Northzone made the following new investments: Outfittery (GER), Lesara (GER), Distribusion (GER), Kahoot (NOR) Matsmart (SWE), Universal Avenue (SWE), Klarna (SWE), Seriously (US/FIN), Jukely (US), Crosslend (GER) Catawiki (NL), CornerJob (SP) and Zervant (FI).
For further information, please contact:
Sofia Lundvall, Head of Marketing and Communications, Northzone
+44 770 2684 634, sofia@northzone.com
Bjørn Stray, General Partner, Northzone
+47 928 83 156, bjorn@northzone.com
Tapio Passinen, Investment Director, Finnish Industry Investment
+358 40 840 3681, tapio.passinen@industryinvestment.com