The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has granted the Financial Services Permission (FSP) to Yashaa Global Capital, a sports-focused venture capital fund that cricket player Shikhar Dhawan cofounded. The company can use this to open its first fund in Abu Dhabi, a major global financial hub. Originally called Da One Global Ventures, Yashaa Global Capital was established two years ago. The company is now prepared to start operations under its new name after obtaining the required licences. The company, which was founded by Dhawan, Dr Victor Tay, Arif Padaria, and Mohammed Sirajuddin, intends to raise $75 million for its first fund. It says it has already obtained commitments for the first closure and is getting ready to launch a call for funds. In order to secure participation from institutional investors for the fund’s second and third closes, it intends to mark the first close with cash from family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs).
Investment Plans
Over the next 45 to 60 days, Yashaa Global Capital will start investing $1 million to $5 million in businesses, with a particular emphasis on Asia. Notably, Indian startups would receive 30% of the fund’s funding. The fund will make investments in startups and early-stage businesses that use data analytics, technology, and innovative fan interaction. Its focus includes media platforms that support the sports ecosystem, esports, health and wellness, and sports technology. The sports industry, which includes sports gaming, generates trillions of dollars every year. Significant equity investments have emerged in the last ten years, and it is getting more globalised and institutionalised. Notable exits have also occurred recently, and this tendency is only anticipated to increase over the ensuing ten years. The venture capital firm’s short-term goal is to invest in businesses that have a high potential for exit while also contributing significantly to their growth trajectory.
Just at the Right Time
The aforementioned development happened at the ideal moment since, according to a report by FIFS and Deloitte, India’s emerging sports technology market—which includes apps, gadgets, sensors, and more—is predicted to expand by 85% over the next four years, creating a potential of INR 49,500 Cr. Even though between 2014 and November 2022, Indian sports tech firms only raised $139 million through 29 investment agreements, the industry still has a lot of unrealised potential. For example, Sourjyendu Medda, a former cofounder of Dealshare, recently raised $1.1 million for his new sports technology company, Sports For Life (SFL). Game Theory received money last year from a number of sources, including renowned table tennis player Sharath Kamal, squash star Saurav Ghosal, and badminton coach Pullela Gopichand.
Sayan Ghosh, a former World Bank officer, has launched Ortella Global Capital (OG Capital), a new venture capital (VC) fund worth INR 300 crore (about $36 million), which would work with creators to co-build firms. The fund would distribute cheques of up to INR 15 crore ($2 million) apiece and intends to invest in over 20 early and growth stage firms in the consumer and “enterprise solutions” sectors.
OG Capital said in a statement that it has already invested in three firms. It lacked particular information about these startups, though. In addition to providing funding, OG Capital intends to support startups by adding them to its portfolio and assisting with business expansion.
Created Largest Early-Stage Investment Team in Indi
OG Capital asserts that it has put together the biggest team of early-stage investors in India, which includes seasoned founders and operators. Scaling startups, determining product-market fit, increasing profitability, developing go-to-market strategies, and facilitating high-value exits are just a few of the areas in which the team specialises.
The goal of OG Capital is to transform early-stage investing by doing more than just writing cheques. In order to assist creators in facing the major obstacles head-on and creating organisations that are meaningful, successful, and have rapid growth, Ghosh stated. He further elaborated that the company believes in getting its hands dirty by supporting startups right from the start. The venture capital business stated that it will promote projects that prioritise gender diversity, sustainability, and grassroots effect in an effort to generate 10X returns. The schedule for closing the fund and deploying it, however, was unclear.
India’s Startup Ecosystem
A spirit of entrepreneurship is in the air! With the number of tech companies in India reaching 122,000 to date, with a peak of over 16,000 new additions in 2020, the country has solidified its position as a major global centre for innovation and businesses. In the past ten years, India has seen an unprecedented surge in the creation and funding of startups.
The financial landscape has also changed significantly, with the largest levels of investment over the last 10 years occurring in 2020 and 2021. Despite the challenges in the funding landscape in 2023, venture capitalists, private equity firms, angel investors, and investment firms have shown a surprising level of faith in Indian entrepreneurs. The investment scenario—from both Indian and foreign investors—has been positive and demonstrates resilience in the face of market concerns, with total funding of $8.4 billion in India in 2023.
From 2014 to 2023, a number of factors, including government initiatives, digitisation, and rising internet usage, drove the expansion of India’s top-funded industries. According to the Tracxn research, these industries include Edtech, Retail, Enterprise Applications, Fintech, Transportation & Logistics, Food & Agriculture, Auto, and Travel & Hospitality.
With a total funding of $6.73 billion throughout the years and $6.23 billion in just ten years, Indian investment in the Deep Tech (R&D orientated) industry has been growing consistently, demonstrating the nation’s dedication to science and technology and its continuous expansion. This pattern highlights how crucial technology-driven innovation is to determining India’s future.
One of the most crucial things to consider when starting your own business is acquiring your seed money. Revenue is more likely to be sparse or consistent than abundant when you start your project. For many early-stage firms on the verge of success or, tragically, failure, securing funds and backing from a venture capital investor can be the make-or-break point. Finding the proper VCs to partner with may be difficult, as you want to make sure they are a good fit for your startup’s vision and can provide you with the resources and network you require.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at ten European venture capital firms that specialise in different industries and could be able to help you get the funding you need for long-term success.
Here are some of the top Venture Capital firms based in Europe which help in financing startups and small businesses.
Index Ventures
Index Ventures – Top European VCs for Seed Funding
Index Ventures is a venture capital business located in London, United Kingdom, founded in 1996. The corporation wants to invest in commercial services, media, retail, and information technology.
Deliveroo, FarFetch, Funding Circle, Transferwise, and Revolut are just a few of the London startups that Index Ventures has partnered with. And a sizable proportion of its investee firms have completed successful initial public offerings (IPOs). The fund works with entrepreneurs in any industry and at any level. However, according to its portfolio, it focuses on seed and venture-stage firms in fintech, SaaS, eHealth, entertainment, fashion, and digital infrastructure.
Since 2011, the fund has invested in 64 London-based businesses, totalling 111 individual equity raises. Index Ventures bills itself as a worldwide, people-focused fund that intends to work with entrepreneurs to convert their ideas into global enterprises. Its offices are now located in London, Geneva, and San Francisco.
Seedcamp is a European venture fund located in London, England, founded in 2007 by Saul Klein and Reshma Sohoni. It backs entrepreneurs utilising technology to take on massive, global marketplaces. The fund focuses on early-stage firms and invests between £100k to £2 million on average. The fund helps its portfolio firms establish product-market fit, expands their sales and marketing teams, and connects them with a global network of specialists.
The fund has a strong track record, having supported multiple unicorns such as Revolut, Wise (previously TransferWise), and Hopin, a virtual events platform. Primer, Curve, and challenger bank Monese are among the significant fintech startups in its portfolio. Since 2011, Seedcamp has invested in at least 128 different equity fundraising rounds in 97 innovative startups in London.
The fund’s investments are primarily focused on firms in the European Union, although they also have a significant presence in North America.
Since November 2018, the average seed money obtained for their most recent ventures has been $2.025 million.
They have made several significant investments in recent years. On the 15th of November, 2018, they made a $4 million seed investment in Ezra, and on the 23rd of January, 2019, they made a $1.6 million investment.
SNÖ Ventures
SNÖ Ventures – Top European VCs for seed funding
SNÖ Ventures is a Norwegian early-stage venture capital firm that invests in technology-related entrepreneurs and business owners. It was created in 2015. The members of the SN Initiatives team have a wealth of knowledge and experience in technology-related ventures, and some have even started and run their firms.
Since Magne Uppman and Teodor Bjerrang founded the business in 2015, they have developed offices in their home Norway, Oslo, and a presence in Palo Alto, California. A typical round of seed fundraising is $1 million in size.
01 Ventures
01 Ventures – Top European VCs for seed funding
01 Ventures is a venture capital business situated in London, the United Kingdom’s capital. They specialise in investing in deep technological startups at an early level. The investment team at 01 Ventures comprises experts in their respective technology fields, which helps to influence their investment selections.
01 Ventures invests primarily in European firms, although they have also invested in the United States and China.
01 Ventures was created in 2015 by Correy Voo, Chris Haley, Ton van’t Noordende, and Eeswaran Navaratnam, a group of investors. The average size of a seed investment round at the business is $1.875 million.
Inventure
Inventure – Top European VCs for seed funding
Inventure is a Finnish corporation that provides seed money to entrepreneurs who demonstrate creativity or operate in high-tech fields. Sami Lampinen and Timo Tirkkonen started the venture financing business in 2005.
Inventure positioned itself as a “Nordic technology fund,” with most of its investments concentrated in European nations and some activities in China. One of their latest seed fundraising activities has an average size of roughly $900,000.
Superhero Capital – Top European VCs for seed funding
Superhero Capital is a venture capital firm based in Finland that focuses on early-stage investments. They are primarily interested in B2B software firms focusing on the e-commerce, financial, healthcare, and industrial technology industries.
Juha Ruohonen, Jakob Stor, Jussi Harvela, and Moaffak Ahmed formed Superhero Capital on the 6th of June, 2015, with the help of a group of entrepreneurs.
The company’s interests are primarily concentrated in its home country of Finland. In the previous two years, they’ve invested an average of $1.2 million in other companies’ seed rounds.
Their leading investment on the 27th of March 2018 and their leading investment into Codescoop on the 1st of June 2018 are two instances of their more recent, prominent investments.
Accel
Accel – Top European VCs for seed funding
Accel is a venture capital firm located in Palo Alto, California, founded in 1983 and is run by. The business is looking for seed, series A, series B, and early-stage growth firms that operate on the cloud (SaaS).
Accel Partners manages a venture capital fund in the United States called Accel. The fund is interested in a broad range of tech industries, including enterprise, information technology, consumer, business goods, healthcare, security, services, media, and fintech, having successfully supported the likes of Slack, Bumble, and Deliveroo from an early stage.
Accel has an extensive global footprint. However, its European activities are now managed from London.
Accel is a significant venture capital firm that invests in individuals and their businesses from the beginning to the end of their development. Over the last 30 years, the Accel has funded firms such as:
Since 2011, Accel has made at least 69 equity investments in 31 London-based businesses, including numerous follow-on rounds obtained by Hopin, Monzo, and digital security firm Snyk. The fund invests in growth capital and works with companies to help them build their brands and expand their client base.
Balderton Capital – Top European VCs for seed funding
Balderton Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in European-based technology businesses with worldwide ambitions.
Balderton Capital has worked with over 200 entrepreneurs and raised above $3 billion to invest in their businesses since its inception over two decades ago. The fund takes a long-term strategy, often investing between $1 million and $20 million in the early phases of its growth and supporting them from start to finish.
Since its inception in 2011, the fund has invested in at least 81 high-growth London-based firms. Some among the company’s notable clients are:
Darktrace
Revolut
Crowdcube
GoCardless
Depop
ComplyAdvantage
Citymapper
Ascension Ventures
Ascension Ventures – Top European VCs for seed funding
Ascension Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by successful entrepreneurs to support the next generation of technology and social impact entrepreneurs. It makes investments in businesses that qualify for the government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) or Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). While Ascension does not disclose its investment range, Beauhurst research shows that it regularly invests between £300k and £1.2m.
As we highlighted, ascension Ventures was one of the most active impacts investors in the UK last year. In London, it has funded 78 ambitious businesses through at least 95 equity fundraisings since 2011. The fund also provides coaching and access to its network of industry connections and offers expansion funding.
MMC Ventures
MMC Ventures – Top European VCs for seed funding
MMC Ventures primarily invests in post-revenue technology startups in the United Kingdom. It assists with scaling these enterprises, often investing between £2m and £3m with a 3-5-year exit horizon. The firm was an early investment in Gousto, and it also owns Bloom & Wild, a flower delivery service, and Signal AI, a market intelligence platform.
MMC Ventures has been active in London since 2011, investing in 32 startups and at least 72 equity fundraisings.
The company as a whole has been investing since 2000 and currently manages over $500 million in several funds; as part of the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF—a fund of funds supporting SMEs in the Capital—it announced a new £52 million seed fund in 2019 to help small firms in the capital.
Conclusion
Whether or not you can get a suitable Venture Capital firm to provide seed money for your company will be the deciding factor in whether or not your business will succeed. So choose wisely.
FAQs
What are the top European venture capital firms?
Some of the top European Venture capital firms are:
Index Ventures
Seedcamp
SNÖ Ventures
01 Ventures
Inventure
Superhero Capital
Accel
Balderton Capital
Ascension Ventures
MMC Ventures
How many VC firms are in Europe?
There are over 1600 Venture Capital firms in Europe.
