Inovia Capital expands European presence with $450m fund
Canadian venture capital firm Inovia Capital has closed its first transatlantic fund at $450m doubling down on its commitment to invest in European growth-stage firms.
The firm opened in London two years ago and is led by investor Patrick Pichette, who also chairs Twitter’s Board of Directors.
Early stage investment in European startups has hit new highs in the past year as VCs seek out opportunities in sectors that have benefited from the pandemic.
“Europe plays host to an amazing array of up and coming entrepreneurial and tech talent, and more companies are raising early-stage investment every year,” Pichette said.
“But when the time comes to scale their businesses, Inovia is there not only with the financial capacity to fuel their growth, but more importantly with the networks and knowhow to enable entrepreneurs to build truly global champions and compete on the global stage.”
Inovia’s fund will invest in growth-state tech firms in a range of industries including financial services, healthcare, the future of work and travel.
“We have a clear strategy for Europe too. We only focus on growth, in contrast with Canada where we invest from seed to IPO and beyond. Therefore, in Europe, we partner with many of the best early stage VCs – we send them our early-stage dealflow, and work with them to turn their highest-potential companies into genuine international champions,” Pichette said.
Since its first growth fund, announced in February 2019, Inovia has invested in well known companies like New York-listed Lightspeed, Appdirect and Snapcommerce.
Pichette recently joined the board of European cycling app Zwift following a recent Series C funding round in which Inovia participated.
“Closing Growth Fund II is an exciting milestone for us. The success that our founders are achieving on the global stage is impressive,” Inovia partner Chris Arsenault said.