Ariadne Capital launches £20m VC fund

21 September 2009

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Fund

UK investment and advisory firm Ariadne Capital has launched the Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs (ACE) Fund, a vehicle aimed at investing in technology and digital media start-ups. The ACE fund, which will have a target of £20m, is expected to hold a final close later this year. The vehicle is structured as a traditional LP based in the UK. Ariadne's cornerstone investors have contributed a 'sizeable sum' to the ACE fund. Proskauer Rose provided legal advice.

Investors

The fund has already received commitments from 10 of Ariadne's entrepreneur investors. They include Julie Meyer, David Rowe, founder of EasyNet; Marc Worth, founder of WGSN; Rob Hersoy, founder of Marquis Jet Europe; Michael Jackson, former chairman of Sage; Gerard Bonnevay, board director of Success Europe and founder of Celimage; and gaming investor Simon Capreis. Other investors will consist primarily of high net worth entrepreneurs located both in the UK and overseas.

Investments

The ACE fund will invest between £250,000 to £1m in internet and mobile internet companies at the seed stage, specifically in business applications, media technology, voice applications, consumer and SME financial services and digital entertainment.

ACE will focus on backing UK entrepreneurs. Ariadne intends to make 12 investments from the new fund overall, ideally in the next three years. The ACE fund will consider co-investing with its entrepreneurial LP network. There are a number of deal opportunities in the pipeline, with the first expected to close shortly after the fund closes.

People

Founder of Ariadne Capial Julie Meyer will act as the fund's managing partner, working alongside Karima Serageldin and David Scholtz on the core investment team. The team will also include venture partners Nick Paine, founder of Lavalife; Fraser Harding, former VP of Engineering at Paragon Software; and Paul Flanagan, founder of Real Life. They will operate from the firm's office in London. An additional partner will be named this autumn.

Name: Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund (ACE Fund)

Focus: Technology, digital media, start-ups

Target: £20m

Contact: Julie Meyer

Address: Ariadne Capital

9 Devonshire Square

London

EC2M 4YF

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 3 178 3619

www.ariadnecapital.com

Advisers