Balderton VII closes on $400m hard-cap

Katharine Hidalgo
12 November 2019

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Balderton Capital has held a final close on $400m for its Balderton VII vehicle.

The Luxembourg-domiciled fund was announced in June 2019 with a target of $350m. Its management fees, carry and hurdle rates are in accordance with market standards and the lifespan of the fund is 10 years.

Balderton partner Suranga Chandratillake told Unquote: "Long-term investors in venture capital are really excited about the proliferation of technology into every sector. For us, it will be more of the same strategy with the same team."

The fund's predecessor, Balderton VI, held a final close on $375m in 2017 and is now more than 50% deployed across 30 portfolio companies. It will not make investments into any new portfolio companies.

The firm is made up of 15 investment professionals and Chandratillake expects the team to continue expanding.

The firm did not use a placement agent for this fundraise.

Investors
Around 85% of the LPs in Balderton VII are existing investors with an average commitment of $15m.

Chandratillake said LPs were primarily university endowments, corporate and public pension funds, and governmental investors such as the European Investment Fund. Balderton VII has very few family offices and almost no corporates as LPs.

The geographic spread of the LPs is 55% from Europe, 30% from the US and the remaining investors from Asia.

Investments
The fund invests first at series-A, but 80% of the fund is dedicated to follow-on rounds for those investments. Typical equity cheques will be $5-10m, though this could vary from investment to investment.

"We see around 5,000-6,000 companies a year and make around 10-15 investments from that pipeline," Chandratillake told Unquote. Balderton is likely to make investments from the fund before the end of 2019.

People
Balderton Capital – Suranga Chandratillake (partner).