VC firm behind Zopa raises £500,000 for fintech fund in just 24 hours
A FINTECH venture capital firm that has a stake in Zopa has surpassed a £500,000 fundraising target for a new investment company in the first 24 hours.
Augmentum Capital, which has a 7.4 per cent holding in peer-to-peer lender Zopa worth £18.5m, is looking to raise £100m through an initial public offering (IPO) alongside a crowdfunding listing on Seedrs.
The fundraising will create Augmentum Fintech, which will back early-stage private fintech businesses based predominantly in the UK and wider Europe.
The new company will also purchase Augmentum Capital’s own holdings in Seedrs, Zopa, Interactive Investor, BullionVault and SRL Global.
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“The UK and Europe are well-placed to capitalise on the ongoing disruption of the financial services sector, where we are surrounded by some of the most innovative fintech businesses like Seedrs,” Tim Levene, co-founder and principal of Augmentum Capital, the fund’s investment adviser, said.
“The Augmentum Fintech team is well networked with investment and operational expertise as well as a successful and established track record, offering investors targeted exposure to a sector with huge growth potential that is difficult to access.
“We expect to drive value creation from our investment and deliver attractive long-term value to investors.”
The Seedrs portion of the fundraising had already hit £575,000 by early afternoon on Wednesday.
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