BlackFin holds €100m first close for BlackFin Tech Fund 1

Alice Tchernookova
26 July 2017

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

BlackFin Capital Partners has held a first close on €100m for its first VC fund, BlackFin Tech Fund 1, launched last year with a €120m target.

BlackFin announced its intention to make a foray into the venture space last year, launching BlackFin Tech Fund 1 with a €120m target and an expected first close in Q4 2016.

The first close was eventually reached in July 2017, having gathered €100m in commitments. The fund's target has also been increased to €150m.

The fund will be led by Julien Creuzé (formerly of Aster Capital) and Maxime Mandin (formerly at Ardian, and subsequently XAnge Private Equity), with Mandin covering German-speaking countries. Three additional investment professionals will join the team in the coming months. BlackFin now employs 20 investment professionals in Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt.

A network of 25 venture partners will also support the investment team in the sourcing of investment opportunities, and provide insights and commercial access to portfolio companies, according to the GP.

Founded by four financial technology entrepreneurs in 2009 – Laurent Bouyoux, Paul Mizrahi, Eric May and Bruno Rostain – BlackFin raised a first buyout fund of €220m in 2011, and a second one of €400m in 2016.

Investors
Commitments came mostly from European institutional investors, including BPI France, which invested through Programme d'Investissement d'Avenir and the Multicap Croissance fund, as well as insurers Vaudoise Assurances, Groupama, Sogecap, Natixis Assurances and Swiss Life.

Several banks and family offices also contributed to the fundraise. The GP expects further commitments, mostly from institutional investors, to reach the €150m target in the coming months.

Investments
BlakcFin Tech Fund 1 will be deployed across European financial, insurance and regulation technology companies. This will include retail and investment banking, payments, wealth and asset management, insurance, insurance distribution and financial software, as well as technology related to regulatory requirements.

The fund will provide seed to series-C rounds, with tickets ranging from €2-7m, which can be raised to €15m at a later stage, depending on a company's progress, the GP told unquote".

People
BlackFin Capital Partners – Laurent Bouyoux (managing partner); Julien Creuzé (investment director); Maxime Mandin (investment manager).