Venture capitalist Lakestar has announced a second start-up fund, raising €350m with a view on European start-ups in their early stages, with Round A funding a priority.
Led by Klaus Hommels – who has backed the likes of Facebook, Airbnb, Skype and Spotify – Lakestar II is more than double the firm’s previous fund, with the €350m raised a conservative figure that was actually capped (€600m could have been raised, Hommels claimed).
The fund – raised through “US endowments, top entrepreneurs and wealthy Chinese families” – comes on the back of a speedy evolution of the European tech start-up scene now in its third age, according to Hommels.
“Now if you look, the entrepreneurs are more daring. Everyone has better worldwide contacts,” he said.
“And now limited partnerships have seen returns. Sequoia, and Google Ventures, for example, have come to Europe. And some big brand names have come out of Europe, so that has changed the perception of investors.”
Hommels thinks that most VCs are looking at fintech and health, but Lakestar II won’t be constrained by field, preferring instead to go with entrepreneurs “we have known for a lot of time”.
It’s a big boon to the general industry, with Lakestar II becoming one of the largest funds in this field in Europe, with Hommels’ team “on the ground” in Berlin, London and Zurich.
Main image via Shutterstock
