Vitruvian makes USD 35m investment in Moonfare

Vitruvian is deploying equity via Vitruvian Investment Partnership IV (VIP IV), which held a final close in July 2020 on EUR 4bn. The vehicle was 8% deployed as of October 2021, according to Unquote Data. VIP IV typically makes equity investments of EUR 35m - EUR 250m, backing companies with enterprise values of EUR 75m - EUR 500m.

The GP has traditionally made investments in growing companies in sectors including technology, financial services, healthcare and consumer services. The GP's previous technology investments include cybersecurity platform Darktrace, food delivery platform Just Eat, and overseas payments platform Wise (formerly TransferWise).

Following the investment, Moonfare intends to continue to develop its product offering and its international footprint, the company said in a statement.

Moonfare said in the same statement that the growth of its platform has seen its assets under management grow by 150% over the past year to EUR 1.6bn.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported earlier in March 2022 that Moonfare was considering further M&A and partnership opportunities to support its global growth, citing managing director Yuri Narciss.

Narciss said at the time that he expected the company's next funding round to come in around 12-28 months, adding that this could see the company grow to a unicorn valuation; it was estimated to be valued at around USD 700m at the time of its Series C round in November 2021. Narciss also told Mergermarket that Moonfare CEO Steffen Pauls owns a majority stake in the business.

Further startups capitalising on the so-called "democratisation of private equity" to offer access to previously untapped groups include Berlin-headquartered Liqid. New York-headquartered iCapital also offers high net worth individuals access to private equity funds via partnerships with banks.

Previous funding
In 2019, Unquote reported that Moonfare had raised USD 28m from a group of private investors. These included ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE's former CEO, Thomas Ebeling, former KKR partner Henrik Kraft, and former BC Partners chair Jens Reidel.

In March 2021, Fidelity International Strategic Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Moonfare, according to Unquote Data.

Moonfare raised USD 125m in Series C round led by Insight Partners. Insight Partners in November 2021. Existing investor Fidelity International Strategic Ventures also participated. The company said in a statement issued at the time that this brought its total funding to USD 185m. Following the round, Moonfare launched new operations in the US, as well as in the Nordics, Israel and Portugal.

Company
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Berlin, Moonfare is a financial technology platform that aims to allow high net worth individuals and retail investors access to private equity and venture capital funds that have typically only been accessible by institutional investors. It transacts with individuals directly, as well as with family offices, banks and financial advisers, and has offered more than 50 funds to its clients to date.

Moonfare operates in 22 countries and has offices in Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg and Singapore.

People
Moonfare – Steffen Pauls (CEO).
Vitruvian Partners – Thomas Studd (partner).

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