AP Ventures launches two funds with $200m commited

Kenny Wastell
17 July 2018

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Newly established venture capital firm AP Ventures has spun out from Anglo American Platinum and launched two funds focused on new applications for platinum group metals (PGM), with $200m in commitments from cornerstone investors.

The VC will be headquartered in London and led by Andrew Hinkly, executive head of marketing at PGM producer Anglo American, and Anglo American market development principal Kevin Eggers. It will also open an office in South Africa.

The firm's team consists entirely of members of Anglo American's PGM investment programme, which was launched in 2014 and made $60m in early-stage and growth capital investments.

Of the $200m in commitments received to date, $110m will be directed towards AP Ventures Fund I, which will inherit the seed portfolio of the Anglo American PGM investment programme, Eggers told Unquote.

The remaining $90m will serve as commitments to AP Ventures Fund II, which will initially look to raise a further $100m but will have an overall hard-cap of $300m, Eggers said. Once the firm has secured the $100m sought for the second fund, it will consider how many additional commitments it will look to secure.

The first fund will have a lifespan of six years, during which time it will look to divest its inherited assets. The second fund will have a 12-year lifespan, with a six-year investment period and a six-year divestment period.

AP Ventures Fund II has an IRR target of 25%, which Eggers said the Anglo American investment programme had exceeded to date.

Anglo American said the launch of the new firm is intended to increase long-term demand for PGM through the development of new uses and applications.

AP Ventures is not currently using a placement agent for the fundraising process.

Investors
The newly-formed VC has received two commitments – each of $100m – from Anglo American and South Africa-base Public Investment Corporation, which will act as cornerstone investors in the maiden funds.

Investments
AP Ventures Fund II will make investments from series-B rounds through to later-stage growth capital rounds. It will write initial equity cheques of $2-3m. Including subsequent follow-on rounds, it will look to limit the proportion of the fund dedicated to any one asset to 10-15%.

The new vehicle will have a global remit and will target companies developing new technologies for the application of Iridium, Osmium, Palladium, Platinum, Rhodium and Ruthenium. It will make investments in sectors including hydrogen infrastructure, fuel-cell electric mobility, energy storage, medical devices and water treatment.

AP Ventures Fund I's portfolio includes investments in Altergy Systems, Food Freshness Technology Holdings, Greyrock Energy, HyET Holdings, Hydrogenius Technologies, Primus Power and United Hydrogen Group.

People
AP Ventures – Andrew Hinkly, Kevin Eggers (managing partners).