Ananda Ventures raises €22.3m Social Venture Fund II

The investor's second fund had an initial target of €20m and a hard-cap of €22.5m. The amount raised is more than three times the €7.3m it received for the first Social Venture Fund.

Ananda began fundraising a year ago and held a first close on €16.4m in December 2013.

Investors
The fund received commitments from 25 investors, including three institutional investors and two foundations, with remaining capital provided by family offices and private investors. Most of the backers are from the UK and Germany, and each invested a minimum of €500,000.

The largest investor in the vehicle is the European Investment Fund, which made its first investment from its Social Impact Accelerator fund, a €250m pot of money dedicated to social venture capital.

UniCredit and the HypoVereinsbank also invested, with the latter committing for the second time. It stated that it was "convinced of the sustainability of this investment approach".

Investments
The vehicle is a typical 10-year fund, with the option to invest for an additional two years if required. It will look at investment opportunities across Europe, with a preference for Germany, the UK, Scandinavia and Benelux. It is looking to complete 16-20 deals over an investment period of four to five years.

In January, the fund completed its first deal: a €100,000 investment into OrderMed, a Hamburg-based company that aims to prevent dangerous drug interactions in chronically ill people. However, the remaining deals will be for a minimum of €500,000, with a typical investment value of €1-1.5m.

The fund's management fees are slightly higher than the private equity average at 2.6%, though the fund does not have a financial hurdle, but an impact hurdle. Ananda's team have to report the achievements of its investments and only then does a carry rate come in to play. It only invests in social enterprises that have an impact in Europe.

Ananda also looks to invest with traditional venture capital firms and actively communicates with other VCs if appropriate to the deal.

People
The Munich-based team is four-strong, led by managing partner Johannes Weber, who founded Ananda in 2009. Florian Erber is also a managing partner and was previously investment manager at Wellington Partners, while Alexandra Irrgang was an investment manager at General Atlantic Partners before becoming an investment manager at Ananda.

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