Alven Capital raises €120m for fourth venture fund

The VC started raising its Alven Capital IV fund last year and initially aimed for a €100m target – the amount that the fund's predecessor, Alven Capital III, closed on in early 2008 after a similarly short fundraising period of eight months.

Alven told unquote" it had been able to convince investors partly on the back of its recent track record: the VC exited six investments in the past 12 months, including the recent sales of Entropysoft and ProwebCE. The firm's entire portfolio has reportedly generated a 30% IRR to date.

Hurdle and carry for Alven Capital IV will remain similar to the previous fund's; management fees had to be brought down slightly to entice investors but are still in excess of 2%.

Placement agent Triago worked alongside Alven on the fundraise.

Investors
Although several of Alven's previous investors could not re-up for this latest fund, the VC compensated by making a strong push for international LPs. Non-French investors are believed to account for nearly half of Alven IV's LP base as opposed to a quarter for the previous vehicle.

LPs in the latest fund remain predominently European and include several French institutional investors and European family offices. Alven did, however, attract two large family offices, one based in the US, the other in Asia.

Investments
Alven Capital IV will pursue the same strategy as the VC's previous vehicle, investing €1-5m equity tickets in French start-ups exclusively in the internet sector. Alven Capital III is now fully invested – its latest transaction being the $2.6m Mailjet deal in December – so Alven will be hence investing from fund IV.

A deal is already in the pipeline and should close in the coming weeks.

People
Alven's seven-strong team is led by managing partners Guillaume Aubin and Charles Letourneur.

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