Venture fund manager MMC Ventures has enjoyed a bumper 2014, attracting GBP74m in total investment into its portfolio in the past 12 months.
2014 saw the team make 23 investments in total, demonstrating why CB Insights named MMC as one of the UK’s most active early stage investors for the third year running.
Over half of these deals were follow-on funding rounds supporting existing MMC portfolio companies including: Invenias, Masabi, Tyres on the Drive, Wool and the Gang and Love Home Swap. Portfolio businesses which have attracted third party funding this year include; Somo, MUBI, PactCoffee.com, PayasUgym, Brightpearl, Gousto and MBA & Company.
MMC also achieved an impressive exit this year in a £50 million deal with Rightster, which saw MMC sell their stake in Base79, the international video network first backed by the team in 2011. This heightened level of activity caught the attention of the Investor Allstar judges, who in September named MMC as Equity Gap Fund of the Year.
On top of this buzz of activity, MMC have also spent the past year overseeing the management of the MMC London Fund, which invests funds sourced by the Mayor of London. Just 18 months after its formal launch, the London Fund had already secured over GBP52m of investment for 17 fast growing London businesses.
2014 has also seen an increase in corporate venture activity within the portfolio, with MMC co-investing more than GBP5m alongside corporate venture funds, including Unilever Ventures who joined forces with MMC in September 2014 to back the popular recipe box company, Gousto.
Bruce Macfarlane, Managing Partner at MMC Ventures, says: “It seems that each year we are reflecting and commenting on how busy a twelve months we’ve had – and 2014 is certainly no exception. We continue to work hard, backing impressive early-stage entrepreneurs in high-growth sectors and we’re delighted to have welcomed a number of new businesses to our portfolio this year; from companies like Pact and PayasUGym, which are tapping into changing consumer demands, to the likes of Obillex which are challenging means of funding businesses.
All the activity and successes of the past twelve months are testament to the hard work of the MMC team – and we’re looking forward to continuing this momentum next year and beyond.”
