Private equity group ACE & Company has held the final closing of ACE Angel Partners with total equity commitments close to USD15 million.
The fund seeks to generate active returns by investing at an early stage in promising technology companies, targeting high growth markets. ACE Angel Partners invests in companies headed by visionary entrepreneurs with proven managerial skills, like Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Pebble, a company that has sold over one million smartwatches to date. These are predominantly technology companies that solve a problem, address large markets, have the potential to disrupt traditional industries and respond to immediate market needs. Docker, a San Francisco based open source containerisation engine and PlanGrid, that developed an application to manage architectural blueprints on the iPad, aiming to eliminate paper blueprints at job sites are examples of such companies.
The fund currently invests in 42 companies and wishes to continue investing in additional ones over the next three years. In addition, ACE Angel Partners intends to participate in follow-on-rounds in-line with its “Back the Winners” strategy, allowing the Fund to accompany its partners in subsequent rounds and avoid early dilution. The Fund sources opportunities through its close relationship with leading incubators such as Y Combinator, accelerator programs, top-tier venture capital firms and serial entrepreneurs. In addition, ACE & Company’s global network and extensive private equity investment experience offers ACE Angel Partners exposure to talent on a global scale.
Commenting on the startup landscape, Charles Lorenceau, Strategy Head, ACE Angel strategy, says: “Our portfolio has had a strong US bias so far, partly due to our unique relationship of trust with Y Combinator. Now we are increasingly finding attractive ventures and top teams in other regions such as Western and Nordic Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Valuations are also less competitive in markets with fewer early stage investors. With team members on the ground on all continents, we expect to support more management teams in these regions, and by bridging ecosystems worldwide.”
