Hoxton Ventures, a venture capital company focused on bridging the gap between Europe and Silicon Valley, is to establish a new side fund worth just under €6m in Ireland.
The €5.85m fund, in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, will focus exclusively on Irish investments.
Hoxton is a €40m early stage venture capital fund focused on European start-ups.
The firm was founded by Accel and Fidelity Ventures alums, Hussein Kanji and Rob Kniaz, and invests primarily in software-driven companies and services.
The fund also announced two new members to its team, Dylan Collins and Vijay Pandurangan. Collins is the Irish technology entrepreneur behind SuperAwesome, Jolt Online (acquired by Gamestop) and DemonWare (acquired by Activision). Pandurangan was formerly a senior engineer at Google and founder of Mitra (acquired by Twitter).
The investment forms part of the Government’s €700m Seed and Venture Capital Scheme.
“We are excited to open up an Irish presence. Ireland has become a leading place for large technology companies entering the European market, and we think it has the seeds of innovation to build exceptional companies,” said Hoxton founder Rob Kniaz.
Enterprise Ireland will commit €2.5m to the first closing of Hoxton’s Irish Sub Fund.
Hoxton has been quietly meeting Irish entrepreneurs
“This fund will build on the success of the 2007-2012 Seed & Venture Capital Programme and the addition of a new fund manager to the Irish market represents a great opportunity for our clients,” explained Enterprise Ireland CEO Julie Sinnamon.
“The Hoxton team clearly have a deep understanding of what is required to accelerate web companies to market; investee companies will not only get access to capital but will be immediately connected into networks that provide expertise and rapid access to customers”.
Hoxton is understood to have been quietly meeting Irish entrepreneurs over the past few months and expects to make several investments in Irish start-ups over the coming three years.
It has made eight investments to date including Deliveroo, Companja and Immun.io.
“This fund increases the availability of funding for ambitious businesses that can achieve the export growth levels and create the jobs the country needs,” the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Employment Richard Bruton said.
Euro image via Shutterstock
