A London-based VC Northzone that has previously funded major tech players from the European continent including Spotify, Klarna, Trustpilot and Personio has announced its tenth fundraise of €1 billion recently. This mega round is Northzone’s biggest raise to date and one of Europe’s largest this year. This VC firm recently also backed Wagestream, Microverse and Distribusion among others.
Prior to this tenth fundraise, it’s most recent fundraise was $500 million with Fund IX in 2019. Since this round, Northzone has significantly expanded its offer to founders with new hires across Sustainability, Marketing, Talent and Business Development
This mega round in Northzone comes at a time when the European VC space has been escalating with big funding rounds. Recently, VC firms such as Inovo VC and Furthr VC that backed Ronspot made fundraising announcements too.
Backs next-gen ambitious companies
The fund will be used to support innovators and entrepreneurs across Europe who are building the most ambitious, category-defining tech companies of the next decade.
With the new funds Northzone will invest in global consumer and enterprise companies across Europe and the US. This will reflect the international VC firm’s long-term investment philosophy, focusing on global opportunities at all funding stages from seed through to IPO
Jessica Schultz, Partner, said: “The tech, the talent and the growth trajectories are an order of magnitude greater than a decade ago. Raising €1bn recognises the enormous ambition of European founders and the capital they need to create world-beating businesses.”
Michiel Kotting, Partner, added: “Successful entrepreneurs come from many walks of life. Our team here at Northzone reflects that, with a group that dares to think differently because of its diversity of thought and backgrounds. This has long been a driving force for our success and we look forward to adding the very best talent to our team and portfolio as we grow.”
VC with 50/50 gender split
Founded by Bjorn Stray, Gregers Kronborg, and Tellef Thorleifsson in 1996 in London, Northzone is one of the few venture firms worldwide with a 50/50 gender split in its investment team.
Northzone’s investment strategy will continue to focus on companies with strong propositions and founders with the vision and conviction to succeed on a global stage. In the past, this has included leading the early-stage rounds of Spotify, Kahoot!, Personio and TIER but also later stage investments like Klarna and Zopa. The team will continue investing in verticals such as fintech, healthtech, SaaS, workplace software as well as consumer apps and entertainment
