When family offices decide to allocate a part of their managed assets to venture capital, one of the most important questions is: what funds are relevant investment targets? Where can we invest as a Limited Partner (LP)? Which funds offer a reasonable risk/return ratio? Usually, family offices meet with relevant funds at conferences like SuperReturn or get introductions by their network. However, some family offices from our network asked us for an overview of interesting venture capital funds that are open to investments (from European family offices) for upcoming investments.
So, we created a unique overview of exciting VC firms that are open to LP investments from family offices and asked them 3 questions to understand their portfolio and investment thesis. We have split the VCs we talked to into three different categories: top-notch funds, established funds, and newcomer funds. Top-notch funds are well-established, had many successful exits in the past and belong to the world’s leading startup investors. Established funds are a bit younger, but still have a promising portfolio, an exciting investment thesis, and are well-connected. Newcomer funds are younger, but still have a promising approach and first exciting investments.
Insights from our interviews
In the following, we present some excerpts from the interviews with the selected venture capital firms.
What are exciting companies in the Storm Ventures portfolio?
Storm Ventures: We were the early investors in Marketo which was one of the first marketing automation SaaS companies which we ultimately helped to take public and eventually sold to Adobe. We are the early investors in Mobile Iron which is a public company (MOBL) focused on mobile security. The company recently announced that it would be sold to a private equity firm. We have several other exciting companies in the portfolio that represent substantial gains such as Talkdesk (call center saas), Algolia (search API saas) and Workato (workflow automation) and many more. We were the first or early investor in all of these companies with the same strategy.
Why should a family office invest in UVC as LP?
UVC Partners: We enjoy the preferred partnership with UnternehmerTUM, Europe’s leading center for startups and innovation. Through this ecosystem, we provide startups with a unique platform to accelerate their growth. UVC can leverage a network of over 1,000 corporate partners and 5,000 students per year at UnternehmerTUM, and thus can uniquely provide first customers and top team members and employees to start-ups. This is very attractive to founders and gives UVC a strong advantage to win competitive deals.
Why should a family office invest in Yabeo as LP?
Yabeo: As a result of our active investment strategy, family offices and small institutional investors suit best for us. We understand the needs and rationals of family offices and very much welcome their support for our portfolio companies with their network and knowledge. We grant full access to our pipeline and existing portfolio companies, and also give our investors the additional benefit of overweighting a single portfolio company via our SPV structures.
Briefly describe the investment focus of Seroba: in which kind of startups are you investing, where is your geographical focus, what’s your average ticket size?
Seroba: Seroba is an early-stage investor, more European focused though with some exposure to North America. We invest in both biotech and medtech opportunities, starting with a first up to 5MEur ticket, and overall allocating 10MEur or more to each investee. Investment stage would be from pre-clinical and beyond for biotech, and closer to first-in-man and beyond for medtech.
Why should a family office invest in Senovo as LP?
Senovo: Europe is the perfect breeding ground for B2B Software Companies. However, specialization is crucial for outstanding returns. Our true edge is (1) a strong market positioning: with 3 previous funds, we are the European expert for early stage B2B SaaS, increasing credibility with founders and high-quality inbound dealflow, (2) we invest in category leaders across Europe – not just the best domestic player and (3) our approach is pandemic/recession proof – 2020 – a strong year for B2B SaaS, our companies remained solid and successful.
What are exciting companies in the portfolio of York IE – and why?
York IE: We launched our investment firm because we had such a successful track record of success as angel investors. As angels, we invested in more than 60 companies and only had 4 failures. We also saw a lot of strategic exits, with many still vibrant and growing companies, including one successful IPO. Our portfolio companies are being rapidly adopted by customers and gaining significant market interest.
Overview of Venture Capital Funds that are open to LP investments
In the following, you will find an overview of all funds we talked to. When you are interested in getting in touch with the listed family offices for investments as an LP in current or upcoming funds you can contact us at ir [at] familyofficehub.io – we are happy to connect family offices to the funds.
Top-notch funds
3 Questions to Storm Ventures: Successful B2B SaaS Investor from Menlo Park
3 Questions to Seroba Life Sciences: European Biotech and Medtech Investor
Established funds
3 Questions to Senovo: Investor for Early-Stage B2B SaaS Startups
3 Questions to Yabeo: Tech Investor for “Entrepreneurial Partnerships”
3 Questions to UVC: Venture Capital for European Technology-based B2B Start-Ups
Newcomer funds
3 Questions To CoFound Partners: The VC For Enterprise Startups
3 Questions To Twenty Seven Ventures: The Rising EdTech And Future Of Work Venture
3 Questions to York IE: The Successful Firm That Is Reshaping The VC Model
3 Questions to Acrobator Ventures: The Investor In Russian-Speaking Tech Founders
3 Questions to Latin Leap Ventures: Investor For Startups In LATAM Markets
3 Questions To Unpopular Ventures: The Fund That Seeks The Uncommon Project
