We start the year with the announcement of new funds for technology and healthcare companies. Altai Startups, an American fund, has launched its first fund outside the US and has decided to do so in Barcelona, with expectations of being the largest life sciences investment vehicle created in Spain.
Sabadell launches fund of funds for technology startups
Sabadell has raised €30m from Sabadell Urquijo Banca Privada and pension fund clients to invest in innovative startups. The fund was created in response to Sabadell's clients, who want to diversify their investments and increase their profitability by investing in innovative startups.
Selección Ventures, as the fund is called, is actually a fund of funds, as it will not take direct stakes in entrepreneurial companies, but will invest the resources raised in European funds specialised in managing this type of investment. Investment commitments have already been signed with three international venture capital funds, to which it will allocate more than half of its investment capacity.
A few weeks after its launch, the new investment vehicle already has stakes, indirectly through the three global funds, in more than 20 entrepreneurial companies in the e-commerce, telecommunications, fintech, cloud applications, cybersecurity, geo-marketing, new drugs and biosurgery sectors. Most of these start-ups are based in the United States, although there are also firms from the United Kingdom, Israel and Ireland.
Lanai Startups partners, on the road between crowdfunding and venture capital
Lanai Startups partners is a company created by 8 managers and investors in the internet sector in our country.
Lanai was born as a diversification need for high risk investments, its founders were investing independently in different projects and located the strategic business opportunity under the logic that it would be easier to reduce risks and obtain benefits together if they built a more complete vision when evaluating possible projects.
Despite being only four months old, Lanai has already invested in three startups: Ottawa (healthy food at home), Helloumi (chatbot integrated with different messaging services) and Avuxi (predictive Big Data, aimed at the travel sector). Lanai's goal is to invest between €500,000 and €1,000,000 over the next two years. This new initiative that comes with force aims to take advantage of the multidisciplinary experience of its founders to give peace of mind to investors in today's digital environment.
Alta Life Sciences
Alta Partners, an investment group based in San Francisco and a benchmark in the life sciences industry, has created a new fund specialising in life sciences, the first it has promoted outside the United States, and it has done so in Barcelona.
The fund aims to raise more than €100 million and to be the largest life sciences investment vehicle created in Spain. The fund will be managed by Altamar Capital Partners, an independent financial services group, established in Madrid in 2004. Altamar has some €3 billion in assets historically committed through various investment vehicles. One of them is Galdana Ventures, the fund of funds created in 2015 with Marcel Rafart, Javier Rubió, Roque Velaco and Dídac Lee as the management team.
Alta Life Sciences has made a first closing to start operating; its objective is to attract pension funds and family offices, two-thirds Spanish and then international, Vendrell explains. It focuses on life sciences companies in general: biotech, biopharma, devices, genomics and digital health. "Investing from seed stage to leading larger rounds of companies before going public. We will give priority to companies that are linked to the Spanish market - that are from here or that land in Europe through here, or conduct trials. But it will not be a limitation.
Other posts that may interest you
Strengzen and Caixa Innvierte Start, new funds March 2016
New venture capital funds for SMEs: Meridia capital and Closa Gordon
New funds for 2016: Sabadell, Caixa Capital risk, Samapaita Ventures and others.
If you are looking for investors, get in touch with us. Abra-invest has a team of experts in alternative financing at your disposal. Call + 34 946424142 or fill in the contact form.