Infravia Capital closes Growth Equity Fund on EUR 501m

Infravia growth fund was launched in October 2019 and held a first close on EUR 270m in May 2020, according to Unquote Data. The fund will invest in digital and technology infrastructure companies across Europe. According to a press release, the fund will be dedicated to technology B2B scale-ups.

Speaking to Unquote, Infravia fund manager Guillaume Santamaria said: "We expect to be fully invested in two to three years, and then we will think about exits and reinvestments." He added that the GP will assess each opportunity on a case-by-case basis and will reserve 50-100% of its equity ticket, and in series D will reserve around 30%.

The GP will make minority investments in the range of 5-30% and the portfolio will consist of 15 portfolio companies in total. Santamaria said the GP will close 2022 with five deals completed and finish deployment in 18 months. The investment period will be around two and a half years. Santamaria said the GP will announce a new deal by the end of this week bringing the total investments from the fund so far to eight in total. He did not disclose the name of the new company, but told Unquote that it is a series D round and that they are currently reviewing four to five opportunities.

The GP tends to invest with early-stage investors across Europe, said Santamaria. He noted that, in the UK, Infravia has co-invested with Bregal and Atomico, and Ventech in France. The GP will usually lead the rounds of EUR 20m-100m.

The fund and team are based in Paris, France. The fund has 10 people dedicated to the team and three fund managers. The GP's infrastructure fund, Infravia European Fund IV, closed on its EUR 2bn hard-cap in September 2018, according to news reports at the time.

Investors
Investors include institutional investors based in France and across Europe, as well as entrepreneurs and family offices, according to a press release. It further noted that investors were satisfied with the GP's growth and late-stage B2B strategy.

BPI France Investissement has backed the GP from day one, said Santamaria. He added that most of the capital came from financial institutions, including large banks, and most of the institutional investors invested around EUR 10m-40m with an average of EUR 30m.

Investments
The fund has invested in seven companies across Europe in the last 12 months. This includes Botify, a France-based software company; Foodles, a France-based food wholesaler; Ometria, a UK-based software company; Packhelp, a Poland-based packaging company; Sightcall, a US-based support service with a French team; Paysend, a UK-based money transfer platform; and Jobandtalent, a Spain-based digital staffing app that became a Unicorn last year.

Santamaria told Unquote that the GP has already invested in the UK, France, Spain and Poland, and are agnostic in terms of geography. The GP has an investment capacity of EUR 15m-50m, while keeping some reserves for companies that are the most active in their portfolio. He emphasised that the fund is only looking at B2B technology businesses and those that can offer a software-as-a-service. The GP is particularly active in the HR, e-commerce, fintech and labour sectors, said Santamaria. He also said that they are seeking to be more active in cybersecurity.

The fund invests in later-stage deals, and starts at Series B, C and D. The GP will target companies that are already performing well in their domicile country and seeking to expand into the rest of Europe, according to Santamaria. He added that they will target companies that have recurring revenues of around USD 10m-50m.

People
Infravia – Guillaume Santamaria (partner); Vincent Levita (founder, CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Simmons & Simmons (legal).

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