True holds £275m final close for third fund

Harriet Matthews
05 July 2021

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Consumer-sector-focused True (formerly True Capital) has held a final close for its third fund on its hard-cap of ТЃ275m.

True Capital III had a target of £250m and was raised in a fully virtual process, the GP said in a statement. The fundriase took around six months, according to a spokesperson for True.

Jones Day provided legal advice on the fundraise.

True Capital Fund II held a final close in April 2017 on £110m. The GP has steadily increased the size of its funds since raising True Capital Fund I in 2015; the GP did not disclose the size of the fund at the time but, according to Unquote Data, the vehicle had commitments of €62m.

The GP manages a £30m Early Stage seed fund alongside its buyout funds. The seed fund has invested in businesses including men's makeup brand War Paint, as well as workplace mental health startup Umind.

Investors
A spokesperson for True told Unquote that all of the firm's major LPs have re-upped and that the firm has seen strong increases in commitment. The LP base includes institutional investors, family offices and high-net-worth individuals, as well as investors close to the retail and consumer industry.

LPs in the fund's predecessor vehicle included funds-of-funds, asset managers and pension funds from the UK and the US. According to Unquote Data, these included Schroder Adveq, as well as the pension fund of supermarket chain Tesco.

Investments
True's third fund will continue the GP's focus on consumer-sector investments, targeting UK-based digital businesses that are able to capitalise on changing consumer, retail and leisure behaviour. True Capital II deployed equity tickets of £10-40m, while the GP's third fund can invest up to £50m, taking majority and minority positions, according to the same spokesperson for the firm.

The fund has not made any platform investments so far but has a strong pipeline, the spokesperson told Unquote.

The GP's previous investments include fashion e-commerce platform Hush, as well as consumer cycling brand Ribble.

True is incorporating ESG into its investments, the GP said in a statement, adding that the firm has recently attained B Corporation certification, meaning that it meets the social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability standards set by the US-headquartered B Corp organisation.

People
True – Matt Truman (co-founder, CEO); Paul Cocker (co-founder).