London-based Atomico, a venture capital firm, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $1.1B (approximately €1.04B) in a funding round to invest in startups.
The VC managed to secure the new capital across its newly established venture and growth funds, according to US regulatory filings, reports FT.
The latest capital infusion brings Atomico close to its goal of securing $1.35B (approximately €1.28B) for both investment vehicles.
The new capital comes at a time when it is harder for VCs to raise funding due to higher interest rates and falling valuations for tech firms, causing investors to pull back.
However, Atomico has secured one of the biggest funding rounds in Europe this year. Highland Europe closed its €1B (approximately €1.28B) fund in January, while Dawn Capital raised $700M last month in London.
According to research from PitchBook, Europe VC funding for startups slowed in H1, 2023 with a total value of deals reduced by more than 60 per cent compared to the same period last year.
In Q2, European VC investment fell 40 per cent YoY to $20B, while North American investment nearly halved to $42B (approximately €40B).
Atomico: What you need to know
Founded by Skype founder Niklas Zennström in 2006, Atomico invests in ambitious tech founders at Series A and beyond with a particular focus on Europe, leveraging deep operational experience to supercharge their growth.
The firm has partnered with over 130 ambitious teams, including those at Klarna, Supercell, Graphcore, Compass, MessageBird, Masterclass, Attentive Mobile, Pipedrive, and Hinge Health.
Currently, Atomico has $5B (approximately €4.75B) in assets under management.
Headquartered in London, Atomico has offices in Paris, Berlin and Stockholm.
“I thought there was such potential in Europe for more companies like Skype to be created. Let’s break the [Silicon Valley] monopoly. We could build the same thing or even better in Europe,” says Zennström in an interview with FT.
