Element Ventures raises $130m for fintech VC fund
Element Ventures has raised $130m for a new fintech-focused venture capital fund.
The London-based venture capital firm will target founders who are “building tomorrow’s financial technology”. The new fund will invest in 15 business-to-business (B2B) companies across the banking-as-a-service, payments, insurtech, asset management and infrastructure sectors.
Element Ventures’ principals include Spencer Lake, HSBC’s former vice chairman of global banking and markets, as well as Steve Gibson and Michael McFadgen who have more than 30 years combined experience.
The new fund has received backing from more than 30 well-known founders and executives from across the financial sector. They include Lord Michael Spencer, the founder of ICAP/NEX Group, who was the fund’s cornerstone investor. He has been joined by Laurent Useldinger, founder of trading software provider ULlink; Cris Conde, former chief executive of software and IT services business SunGard; and Pierre Naude, co-founder of nCino, a cloud banking specialist.
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The list also includes Anna Ewing, Nasdaq’s former chief investment officer; Hamilton Matthews, former chief executive of financial news and data firm Acuris; Brendan Woods, founder of Autoentry, an automated data entry platform; and David Rutter, founder of enterprise blockchain technology company R3.
Isomer Capital, another venture capital firm, has invested in the fund and will join the limited partner (LP) advisory board.
Portfolio companies will gain access to the substantial experience on offer via this entrepreneurial network.
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To date, Element Ventures has backed B2B fintech firms across the UK and Europe. They include Hepster, the embedded insurance platform; Billhop, the B2B payment network; Coincover, cryptocurrency recovery service; and Minna, the subscription management platform which has partnerships with Lloyds Banking Group, Swedbank and ING. Whilst the investments so far have been in Europe, Element plans to invest in companies around the world.
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“When we created Element Ventures, we believed that a sector-focused, founder-focused venture platform was what Europe’s B2B fintech entrepreneurs needed,” said Gibson, a partner at Element Ventures.
“This has been validated by both founders and LPs. We’ve been able to build a platform for fintech founders, backed by fintech founders, that will help to scale transformative businesses in the industry.”
“B2B fintech is one of the most exciting opportunities in the tech industry, with incumbents facing huge challenges to digitise and talented entrepreneurs ready to compete,” said McFadgen, also a partner at Element Ventures.
“We’ve already backed some incredible businesses and we’re looking forward to discovering the next-generation entrepreneurs that are rising to this challenge.”