California-based venture capital group Draper Fisher Jurvetson has acquired a strategic stake in London-based Esprit Capital Partners, which will become DFJ’s exclusive partner in Europe and will rebr
California-based venture capital group Draper Fisher Jurvetson has acquired a strategic stake in London-based Esprit Capital Partners, which will become DFJ’s exclusive partner in Europe and will rebrand as DFJ Esprit. Members of DFJ’s Silicon Valley-based team will join the investment committee at Esprit, which becomes the newest addition to the group’s global network of venture partnerships.
According to DFJ, the network will provides Esprit with access to deal flow, due diligence, corporate contacts, hundreds of technology companies, best-of-breed practices, co-investment partners and potential exit opportunities worldwide.
It can be used to access more than 120 investment professionals in 30 cities in the US, Asia, Europe and South America to obtain assessments of new company activity in a given market or an introduction to a potential customer, partner or acquirer, assisting Esprit portfolio companies with their growth strategies.
‘Silicon Valley’s greatest export in the past decade has been its entrepreneurial spirit, which is being adopted globally and especially across Europe,’ says Esprit chief executive Simon Cook. ‘DFJ was one of the first US venture capitalists to expand out of its home market and therefore has the knowledge and approach to make global venture partnerships a success.
‘We believe our partnership with DFJ will significantly expand our resources to assist European entrepreneurs and their companies in becoming global leaders in their target markets. DFJ’s outstanding track record of success and network of experienced partners across the US, Asia and South America will help us realise our vision of a vibrant and successful Europe within a global venture capital industry.’
DFJ founder and managing director Tim Draper says: ‘We are excited to be making such a bold move into Europe, partnering with one of the largest and most successful teams. Europe is full of exciting entrepreneurs with global winners emerging such as Skype and CSR but is underserved by global venture firms.’
Based in Menlo Park, California, Draper Fisher Jurvetson is a leading venture capital firm with more than USD5 billion in capital commitments. Over the past 20 years, DFJ has backed more than 500 portfolio companies including Hotmail (acquired by Microsoft), Baidu, Skype (acquired by eBay), EnerNOC, Focus Media, Mobile 365 (acquired by Sybase, xFire (acquired by Viacom), United Online, Overture (acquired by Yahoo!), Interwoven, Four11 (acquired by Yahoo!), and Parametric.
Esprit currently manages USD560m in two funds focused on private technology companies in Europe: Esprit Capital I, which it acquired via a management buyout from Cazenove in 2006, and the London Stock Exchange-listed Prelude Trust. The firm’s portfolio consists of more than 35 high-growth technology companies including Lovefilm, Packetexchange, Buy/at, Intense, Displaylink, XMOS and WAYN.
Members of the Esprit team have been active in technology investing since 1985 and have a track record encompassing more than 130 companies. Over the past 16 months Esprit, which offices in London and Cambridge, has been one of the most active investors in Europe with 23 investments.
