Early-stage tech venture capital firms Passion Capital is opening up its latest GBP45 million fund, Passion Capital Fund III, to investors registered and qualified by the Seedrs platform.
Passion Capital will make an allocation available to the public, making it the first time retail investors can be part of a private venture fund that invests in some of the UK’s most exciting early stage tech startups.
Passion Capital’s third fund includes new General Partner Malin Posern, who joins existing partners Robert Dighero and Eileen Burbidge. Through this opportunity, an allocation will be made available on the Seedrs platform so that any investors who self-certify as “high net worth” or “sophisticated” can back the Passion Capital portfolio and have the opportunity to invest indirectly in future household names. To date, Passion Capital has made 81 tech investments in companies worth more than GBP3 billion, including Monzo, GoCardless, Butternut Box, Adzuna, and Marshmallow.
This is the first time a European crowdfunding platform has facilitated access to a private venture fund to the general public. Passion Capital has already made 11 new investments from Fund III, which Seedrs investors will automatically be part of, with a further 15-20 new investments to be made.
Eileen Burbidge, Passion Capital partner and one of the UK’s most influential venture capitalists, says: “Investment into a private venture fund is usually reserved for institutions. We are throwing our doors open to a much wider range of investors in this unique collaboration with Seedrs as we look to diversify our investor base and increase access for investors who might be interested in partnering with us. This way their single investment will be applied across a range of world-class entrepreneurial talent, rather than through the direct single company investment traditionally made through equity crowdfunding campaigns.”
Jeff Kelisky, CEO at Seedrs, adds: “This is a very innovative collaboration for both the venture capital and the equity crowdfunding space. We’re thrilled to be supporting Passion Capital in this activity. It presents our community with another avenue to participate in SME equity finance that delivers additional investment opportunities and the potential for exceptional returns, beyond the direct investment campaigns we also run.”
