The Lakestar II fund is the largest to be raised by the company to date and the firm, which has offices in Guernsey, Berlin and Zurich, will focus on backing businesses across its native Europe and the US. Lakestar has provided early stage investments to tech giants including Facebook, Airbnb, Spotify, Skype and King.com, and will seek out companies with the same potential while harnessing its experience to support scaling opportunities. Founder of Lakestar, Klaus Hommels, and his team plan to use connections in Europe and the US to drive forward firms seeking early and growth stage financing to develop a presence for partners across geographies. “We were very pleased to have received interest in Lakestar II from many prominent investors – in fact, the fund was significantly oversubscribed. However, €350m is the right size to give our portfolio companies the appropriate level of personal attention and support from our partners, and to help these businesses grow,” Hommels said. Lakestar was among the investment firms that backed Berlin-based on-demand home services firm Helpling, which went on to acquire British-headquartered rival service Hassle.com.Read more on European VC investments:
Alex Depledge, CEO and founder of Hassle.com, said at the time: “Our goal from the beginning has always been to become a global domestic cleaning brand. This strategic move takes us significantly closer to that goal.”
Although Lakestar has experience of concentrating on digital developments, it won’t restrict itself to one certain area and plans to target multiple sectors. It’s a decision that’s been made for a wider chance to “build disruptive businesses across different major markets”. Hommels added: “The European technology market is continuing to boom. We’re seeing high-quality investment opportunities in tech, in a venture capital ecosystem that has materially improved and is increasingly producing market-leading companies on a global scale. “We’re also seeing a shift in the way the most promising companies access funding – rather than going public, major players are seeking private funding later in their development, providing opportunities for follow-on investments in strong performers. To date we have invested in some of the world’s biggest startups. We plan to continue to do this, in Europe and the US.” By Zen Terrelonge
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