SmartFin closes sophomore fund on €240m

Launched in Q2 2019, SmartFin Capital II had a €150m target and a €200m hard-cap. Last month the vehicle held a first close hitting its hard-cap. SmartFin subsequently allowed a number of LPs on a waiting list to make commitments, Unquote understands. 

SmartFin has set a management fee of less than 2% and 15% carry for the fund and no hurdle rate. The GP is expecting the fund to generated a IRR of around 20%. As of now its predecessor, which has still a number of portfolio companies, generated a IRR of less than 30%. 

The fund's predecessor, Smartfin Capital Fund, closed on €75m. 

SmartFin, an early-stage and growth specialist, was founded in 2014 and based in Mechelen.

Investors
Half of the fund's commitments come from previous backers, Unquote has learned. The majority of commitments come from family offices and high-net-worth individuals, Unquote understands. Institutional investors – including the Belgian Growth Fund, ING and BNP Paribas – have also made commitments to the fund.

Alycho – the holding company of entrepreneur Marc Coucke – and insurance firm Belfius Insurance, among others, have backed SmartFin for the first time.

LPs are mostly based in Benelux, although a Swiss private bank also backed the fund. 

Investments
The fund backs both early-stage and growth-stage investments in B2B technology companies that are headquartered in continental Europe and in the UK, following the strategy of its predecessor. It provides equity tickets in the €500,000-12m range.  

In March last year, SmartFin and Flemish investment company PMV announced the sale of their portfolio company Newtec to ST Engineering for €250m.

People
SmartFin Capital – Jürgen Ingels, Bart Luyten (founding partners).

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