The fund will mainly focus on early-stage start-ups in the fintech sector, which saw global investment fall significantly in 2023.
VC firm 13books Capital – formerly known as Element Ventures – has closed a £121m fund to support the next wave of fintech founders.
The firm said this fund will primarily invest in fintech start-ups that are in the seed to Series A stages, with investment sizes ranging from £1m to £7m. The fund has already invested in five portfolio companies in the last six months.
These include Series A investments into Aria, an embedded invoicing platform, and Ramify, a digital wealth management platform.
To date, 13books Capital has backed 19 fintech companies, with investments into Roadzen, Hepster, Coincover, Runa, Billhop, Thirdfort, Duco, nCino, Fenergo, and ErisX. The VC firm says it provides a network of 34 world-class founders and industry leaders, including limited partners (LPs) that provide entrepreneurial expertise.
13books Capital also welcomed two new limited partners – British Patient Capital and KfW Germany – who join Isomer Capital and IPGL on this fund’s limited partner advisory committee.
“It is clear that European fintech entrepreneurs desire a sector-focused, founder-focused venture platform that has meaningfully impactful networks across the industry,” said 13books Capital partner and co-founder Michael McFadgen. “We believe European fintech is entering a golden period, and we thank our LPs and founders for their trust and look forward to supporting the next generation of pioneering fintech entrepreneurs.”
13books Capital was founded by Steve Gibson and McFadgen in 2019, who were later joined by former HSBC vice-chair of global banking and markets Spencer Lake. The company said an initial scepticism among financial services companies has been replaced in recent years by recognition of the huge potential for emerging fintechs.
But it has been a tough market for fintechs recently. A report by KPMG in March claims that Irish fintech companies attracted around $61m in investment last year, a massive drop of 94pc compared to more than $1bn in investment in 2022. KPMG said the decline was also shown in global trends, as total investment hit a six-year low.
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