Dublin's Atlantic Bridge has closed a major fund worth €140m which it will use to invest in companies in cloud, big data, robotics and internet of things
Atlantic Bridge Capital has confirmed the first close of Atlantic Bridge III, a €140m fund for technology companies with the potential to scale globally in the areas of big data, internet of things (IoT), robotics and cloud computing.
The Dublin-based fund will invest in up to 20 European companies.
Investments are already closing in seven companies.
The fund will focus on scaling Irish and European companies in high-growth enterprise technology sectors such as cloud, big data, augmented and virtual reality software, robotics and IoT.
“We already have a number of pipeline investments identified for the fund and are confident that this will build on the track record of success of our previous Funds,” explained Brian Long, managing partner of Atlantic Bridge.
“As a growth equity stage fund, Atlantic Bridge III will focus on taking companies with a solid and exciting business model to the next level, scaling them into key international markets like the US and China.”
The project is supported by the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland.
Participants in the new fund include existing Atlantic Bridge investors, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, Enterprise Ireland and the European Investment Fund, along with new institutional investors, including British Business Bank Investments Limited, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, and a number of institutional pension funds.
AIB is also a new investor in the Atlantic Bridge III fund.
In February, we reported that the organisation was close to closing a major fund.
The Bridge model works
Brian Long, managing partner, Atlantic Bridge Capital, with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton ,TD, and Kevin Sherry, executive director at Enterprise Ireland. Photo: Maxwell Photography
Atlantic Bridge Capital is a global technology fund with more than €400m of assets under management across four funds, investing in technology companies in Europe. Headquartered in Dublin, it has offices and staff based in London, Silicon Valley, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Using its international platform and “Bridge model”, the venture capital firm has scaled a range of European companies into the US and Chinese markets
Examples of scaled Atlantic Bridge portfolio companies include Movidius, FieldAware, PolarLake, Metaio, Swrve and Glonav.
Atlantic Bridge currently has more than 20 companies in its funds’ portfolio and has achieved 12 realisations with proceeds totaling over €1.7bn.
“The Atlantic Bridge model of connecting Irish technology companies with key global markets makes it a key component of the funding landscape and we are excited to continue our partnership with Atlantic Bridge for Fund III, following the strong performance achieved by Fund II,” said Eugene O’Callaghan, director of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
“This investment aligns with our dual objectives of generating economic impact and financial returns and we look forward to seeing it support rapidly growing Irish companies in accessing customers, investors and partners in global markets in the US, China and Europe.”
Golden Gate Bridge image via Shutterstock
