Blossom Capital closes debut fund on $85m

The total amount raised was just below the target of $100m originally communicated by the firm.

Brown recently launched networking and mentoring group Ambitious Ladies in Tech in order to tackle the gender imbalance across the technology industry. Blossom will not specifically focus on female-led companies, though it will hold dedicated office hours for female founders in an effort to ensure women receive "equality of airtime", according to a statement. It also has a broader aim to make itself "approachable to anyone regardless of background or gender".

Two of the VC's partners – Imran Ghory and Mike Hudack – come from engineering backgrounds. Ghory oversaw data-driven deal sourcing at Index and was formerly head of data insights at MarketInvoice. Hudack was previously chief technology officer at Deliveroo and director of product at Facebook.

Louise Samet has also recently been appointed as partner at Blossom, leaving online bank Klarna after six years. During her time at Klarna, Samet was responsible for digital products and led the company's technical sales team.

The firm also hired former Schroder Adveq investment manager Brett O'Farrell as venture partner last year.

Blossom did not use a placement agent for its debut fund. Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Emily Brown provided legal advice.

Investors
The firm raised commitments from institutional investors, including pension funds, asset managers, foundations, funds-of-funds and sovereign wealth funds, Brown told Unquote. It also received investment from technology entrepreneurs including Robinhood co-founder Vladimir Tenev, and Zendesk founder Mikkel Svane.

Around 40% of the fund's LPs are European investors, with 40% hailing from the US and the remaining 20% spread across the rest of the world, Brown said.

Investments
Blossom will primarily take part in series-A rounds and will typically write equity cheques of $5-10m. The fund will target technology companies, in particular those related to financial services, design, travel, marketplaces, B2B software, developer-focused tools for security and infrastructure, and API-first companies. However, it will also consider investments in other technology segments.

The firm will look to make four or five investments per year, Brown said, and will have a 10-year life span, with a five-year investment period and a five-year divestment period. It will look to support international expansion plans and will adopt a data-driven approach in both deal sourcing and the management of its portfolio. The VC said it intends to source transactions beyond Europe's main technology hubs of London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and Stockholm.

To date, Blossom has invested alongside VCs including Y Combinator, Greylock and Index, taking part in rounds for Duffel, Fat Llama, Frontify and Sqreen.

People
Blossom Capital – Ophelia Brown, Imran Ghory, Mike Hudack, Louise Samet, Brett O'Farrel (partners).

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