Funds in brief top news

Northzone Ventures has closed its fifth fund, Northzone V, on €175m in its one and only closing.

A host of investors from previous funds returned for the latest offering from the Nordic firm, including Argentum, Nordea Life and Pensions, LGT Capital Partners, Vital, Access Capital Partners and Swiss Re. New investors include AlpInvest Partners, Pantheon Ventures and BNP Paribas Private Equity. Fifty-five of Northzone V’s LPs are based outside the Nordic region.

The latest fund from the Oslo-headquartered VC will follow the same investment strategy as its predecessors, investing in fast growth technology, software and telecom companies primarily in the Nordic region.

Global Private Equity acted as placement agent on selected mandates for the fundraising.

• Scottish Equity Partners has launched its most recent venture capital fund, SEP III and has already secured participations of over £120m (€175m) from UK and European institutional investors.

A final decision on the size of the fund will be made within a few weeks. The firm predicts it will be one of the largest venture capital funds focused on UK technology companies.

SEP managing director Calum Paterson said: “We are very pleased with the response we have had from both existing and new investors. Our most significant existing investors have come back in, which is a tremendous vote of confidence in our team and track record, and we have also attracted a number of major new backers. That was something we considered important to do in order to broaden out our investor base.”

SEP has completed the investment programme for the £110m SEP II fund, launched in 2001, which has been invested in 30 emerging and growing technology companies throughout the UK in the IT, healthcare and energy-related technology sectors.

• While the geographical focus of the first fund was only the North West of England, the new RisingStars Growth Fund will invest in early stage and proof of concept technology opportunities located throughout the North of England, a significant extension of Enterprise Venture’s activities in the North East and Yorkshire regions.

Jonathan Diggines, who joined Enterprise Ventures as chief executive and invested to take a significant equity position a year ago, says: “A key aim at the time of the first RSGF fundraising, as with many other funds seeded with public monies, was that any follow-on fund would not need to draw upon public funds. We believe this is the first follow-on fund to achieve this.”