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London-based venture capital firm Balderton Capital has drummed up a $375 million fund dedicated to European startups. One of the year’s largest capital raisings, managing partner of Balderton Bernard Liautaud said that the firm ‘believe that we will have a Google or Facebook or Amazon from Europe’ in the coming years.
He added: "Before there was always something missing, in France, in the UK and in Germany. But now with the right funding we very much believe that we will have a Google or Facebook or Amazon from Europe and the next big European company will be a tech company. What we still need to develop is entrepreneurs who have the drive to take it all the way – I think we are starting to see that now."
The $375 million ranks as Europe’s fourth largest technology -focused venture capital fundraisings in 2017, according to data from venture capital investment data firm Dealroom.co. Only UK-based Atomico, Germany’s Rocket Internet and France’s Partech Ventures raised bigger funds in the region this year.
Balderton has had success through previous investments in startups. Among its most well-known ventures, Balderton has backed gambling group Betfair as well as fashion site Yoox Net-a-porter and cosmetic retailer The Hut Group.
