QVP attracts E115 million

Quester, the UK VC traditionally focused on VCTs, has raised E115 million of commitments for its new institutional VC fund, its first in over ten years. Quester Venture Partnership (QVP) has secured commitments from prominent institutions in the UK, continental Europe, North America and Japan and is open to professional investors only.

The fund will invest around 80 per cent in information and communication technologies (ICT) and 20 per cent in healthcare and life sciences, creating a balanced portfolio of around 30 companies. The investment team has already completed six investments for QVP totalling E11 million. These include five ICT investments, Anthropics, Celoxica, On Demand Distribution, Nomad and Interprovider; and Lorantis, a life science investment.

The final close for QVP is scheduled for the end of June at between GBP100 million and GBP150 million. Quester managing director, Andrew Holmes, said: “We are very pleased with this response to QVP, especially given the recent difficult market conditions for raising funds of this type.”

Quester’s last effort at institutional fund raising was in 1990 when it raised funds for Parquest Venture Partnerships, a small ecu-denominated fund. Quester has around GBP250 million under management and is also in the process of fund raising for its fifth VCT which has raised over GBP10 million.