White Star Capital reveals $180m fund for transatlantic startups to scale internationally

Given the underwhelming VC investments in Europe at the beginning of the year, this global firm’s fund is a breath of fresh air

White Star Capital reveals $180m fund for transatlantic startups to scale internationally

Unless we’re talking fintechs such as eToro, the trading platform, raising $100m, it seems VCs interested in Europe largely napped through the first quarter. But the future may be brighter after White Star Capital, the VC firm, revealed a $180m fund for businesses across the Atlantic – two of which hail from Blighty. 

Having exceeded their $140m target White Star Capital’s oversubscribed second round will inject 20 new transatlantic companies with investments of $1m to $6m. The firm aimed at startups using data competitively and that have a taste for scaling internationally, criteria which gave a shot to UK companies Butternut Box, the dog food delivery service and Echo, the prescription reminder service.

White Star Capital is no stranger to these shores with its first $70m round seeing investments in UK-based Aire, the credit assessment service, Red Sift, the cybersecurity platform and Dice, the ticketing app. 

In light of adding two more to the list, Eric Martineau-Fortin, co-founder and managing partner of White Star Capital, told Elite Business: “We are seeing fantastic opportunities in the UK market and our London office, based near Waterloo, will continue to invest in exciting British companies.”

Commenting on the latest round as a whole he said: “We have purposely sought a diverse and global investor base for our second fund, many of whom are repeat investors from fund one, and we would like to thank them for their continued support.

“Our growing team has extensive operational experience and we are passionate about supporting ambitious entrepreneurs with truly global ambitions. Internationalisation represents a huge opportunity for many high-growth companies and our global reach means we can support companies looking to scale outside of their home market.”

British startups are likely watching overseas investments such as these like hawks, given opportunities for international scaling post-Brexit. 

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Angus Shaw
Angus Shaw
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