Nekko aims to reach EUR 10m hard-cap for N Venture I within six months

The fund held a first close on EUR 6m last year and is now looking to increase this to meet its EUR 10m target and hard-cap, Sanchez said.

It expects to secure capital commitments from institutional investors and family offices from Spain or other European countries with an interest in investing in Southern Europe, he added.

N Venture I could also raise funds from Fond-ICO, the Spanish state-owned-fund-of funds, Sanchez said.

Nekko co-founder Merce Tell is leading the search for investors, Sanchez said. Investors should provide a minimum ticket of EUR 0.1m, he added. Current investors are family offices, private investors, entrepreneurs and a few corporates, with around 95% of the EUR 6m raised so far coming from Spanish investors, he added.

N Venture I was promoted by Nuclio, a Spanish venture builder, which was also co-founded by Sanchez, he said. Nuclio was formed in 2016 and its main activity is to create startups and help them look for investors, he added. As some investors co-invested in the first Nuclio start-ups foundation, they asked Nuclio to create a VC, he added. Nuclio promoted the fund but transferred its management to Nekko Capital, he added.

N Venture I, therefore, only invests in start-ups created by Nuclio, Sanchez said. To avoid conflicts of interest, N Venture I can deploy up to EUR 0.15m in a first investment and the company’s valuation must not be more than EUR 2m at this stage, he added. If there is a co-investor in a potential portfolio company’s funding round, this co-investor fixes the valuation; if it is more than EUR 2m, N Ventures I can match the co-investor’s investment, up to EUR 0.5m, he added.

N Ventures I also makes follow-on investments alongside other investors who also fix the company’s valuation, Sanchez said

N Ventures I has already invested around EUR 2m in nine companies, Sanchez said. The total investment received by these companies is over EUR 30m, he added.

The fund has dry powder of around EUR 4m for new investments and follow-ons, the executive said. With the EUR 6m it has raised so far, N Ventures I could invest in around 14-16 companies, rising to around 18-20 companies if it reaches its EUR 10m target, he added. The fund can deploy its capital over three years plus one additional year, he added.

Nuclio creates between four to six companies per year, the executive added.

The fund typically exits its investments three years plus one additional year after its first investment in a company, Sanchez said. It could make divestments from its current portfolio from 2025, he added.

Nuclio and Nekko Capital plans to launch new vehicles every three to four years, raising similar amounts for each fund, Sanchez said.

N Ventures I has invested in businesses including children’s computer programming education platform Minicoders, online mortgage platform Finteca, digital health communication app DocFarma, women’s health brand Arediana, blockchain-based digital wallet Fridom, and recruitment and talent company Nuclio Talent, the executive said.

Several of its portfolio companies are now looking for investors, he added. For example, online tutoring platform Profe.com is looking for EUR 1.5m; SME financing provider Kintai will look for EUR 5m-EUR 10m; while NFT and crypto token-based AAA games publisher Games for a Living (GFAL) will raise more than EUR 10m, he added.

Nekko Capital was co-founded by Sanchez, Tell and Josep Santacana, he said. It is based in Barcelona and has eight employees, Sanchez said.

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