360 Capital holds €90m first close for fifth fund

The vehicle was launched in September 2019 with a €150m target and expects to raise around €100m by October. It hopes to hold a final close by the first half of 2021.

The VC firm has also recently held a second closing for its Poli360 fund on €55m. The vehicle was launched with a €60m target in September 2018 in partnership with technology-focused university Politecnico di Milano. It targets technology projects and startups launched primarily by Politecnico di Milano, but also developed by other Italian and European universities. It provides equity tickets of €100,000-3m and acquires minority stakes of around 20-30%. The fund expects to hit its target by June 2020, 360 Capital told Unquote.

In addition, 360 Capital is fundraising for A Plus 360, a vehicle targeting €50m that was launched at the beginning of the year in partnership with Italian energy company A2A. The fund is dedicated to energy efficiency, with a focus on companies operating across the utilities, energy management and smart city segments.

360 Capital also manages 360 Square Fund, a vehicle dedicated to seed investments across France and Italy, which is fully deployed and has started its divestment period.

Investors
The fund has attracted a wide investor base composed of Italian and international institutional LPs, primarily pension funds, insurance companies and banks; corporations, such as Honda, Huawei and A2A; and family offices, mainly from Italy. One of its cornerstone investors is BPI France.

The fund expects to attract several new investors in the coming months, including institutional LPs, private investors and corporations interested in fuelling innovation and disruptive technology.

"Our fundraising has been very successful despite the Covid-19 emergency," Cesare Maifredi, general partner of 360 Capital, told Unquote. "Thanks to our track record and successful investment strategy, we managed to attract a diversified group of LPs and raise more than half of the fund's size. However, we expect that that the uncertainty of the emergency will delay some investors' decisions and cause a stall in certain negotiations in the next couple of quarters. This is why public initiatives like Fondo Nazionale per l'Innovazione are so important at this difficult time, especially to support platforms that have already been able to raise capital and are deploying resources to help the recovery and development of the local economy."

Investments
360 Capital V targets series-A and -B rounds in startups operating across the automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, "deep tech" and software B2B and B2C sectors. It deploys equity tickets in the €2-10m range.

Target companies are based primarily in Italy and France, but the fund can deploy up to a quarter of its capital in the rest of Europe.

"We are looking for attractive opportunities and plan to make our first investments in the next couple of months," Maifredi told Unquote. "We have noticed a decrease in valuations following the coronavirus emergency and a reduction in competition across the market. This is a scenario where, despite the uncertainty of the crisis, we expect to find numerous companies with brilliant projects and the need for fresh capital, know-how and support."

People
360 Capital – Cesare Maifredi (general partner).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Funds
• Venture
• Southern Europe
• France
• Technology
• Venture
• Italy
• France
• coronavirus