British Patient Capital has made a USD75 million cornerstone commitment to Balderton Capital Growth I, as Balderton Capital announces its final close at USD680 million.
Balderton is one of the most established technology investors in the UK, with over two decades of experience of backing some of the country’s most ambitious founders from a very early stage. Darktrace and The Hut Group, which have both recently listed in London, are two notable Balderton successes. This new venture growth fund, one of the largest in the UK and Europe, is able to support founders as they scale their businesses with the ambition to become global industry leaders. The fund is sector agnostic, and expects to invest between USD25 million and USD50 million per company.
The commitment follows British Patient Capital’s investments in two previous Balderton Capital funds which focussed on investing at Series A. Several companies from these funds have now reached growth stage, such as AI drug discovery specialist, Healx, self-driving software provider Wayve, eco-friendly homecare product provider smol, cybersecurity specialist, Tessian, and Zego, the UK’s first insurtech unicorn.
Judith Hartley, CEO, British Patient Capital, says: “We are pleased to provide this USD75m cornerstone commitment to Balderton’s inaugural growth fund. Balderton’s track record in identifying and backing some of the UK’s most successful innovative companies from seed and Series A means they now hold one of the largest growth stage portfolios in the UK and Europe. A venture growth fund builds on that momentum. This commitment is well aligned with our strategy to invest with fund managers that can back our most promising innovative companies through larger, later-stage funding rounds, and deliver compelling returns. We are delighted to help one of the country’s most seasoned technology investors bring a new venture growth fund to market.
Rana Yared, General Partner at Balderton Capital, says: “We see an unprecedented opportunity for growth stage investing in the UK and Europe. Multiple maturing technology ecosystems have resulted in global winners being born and scaling from Europe. We’re looking for fifteen or so really exceptional companies that have the potential to be sector leaders and disrupt global industries.
“British Patient Capital is a long-standing partner in our ambitions to support the next generation of global leaders in innovation and technology. Their cornerstone investment has been instrumental in enabling us to raise our first growth fund. We are proud to have them as an LP.”
