VC fund Mosaic Ventures has closed its second funding round at $150m. Whilst based in London, Mosaic Ventures invests in ambitious technology companies across Europe, with a focus on Series A rounds.
Since it was launched in 2014, Mosaic Ventures has invested in 20 technology companies, including Blockchain, Convoy, Habito and Nexar, as well as Entrepreneur First. Blockchain is a leading cryptocurrency wallet provider. Founded by Peter Smith, Nicolas Cary and Ben Reeves in 2011, Blockchain was one of the first movers in the industry, and now provides over 27 million digital currency wallets in 140 countries. Led by Silicon Valley veterans, Simon Levene and Toby Coppel, the VC prides itself on backing companies at the forefront of innovation.
The firm also embraces Series A because of the risk associated with it: backing founders whose dreams have a genuine shot to become global category leaders. With this latest $150m boost, it will continue to focus on companies ready to grab Series A funding.
Founding Partner Simon Levene has worked in tech for over 20 years, taking jobs including VP Corp Dev for Yahoo!, and then as a partner in Accel’s London office. His most notable investments include early bets on Etsy and Squarespace, now worth $5B and overseveral billion respectively.
Commenting on the closing of Mosaic Ventures second fund, and the fund’s strategy of investing in risk-takers, Levene said: “We are very proud of what we have achieved during our first four years, and we look forward to continuing our strategy of investing at an early stage in Europe’s most ambitious entrepreneurs. Our current portfolio demonstrates that the strategy is working. Since launch we have invested in over 20 fast-growing startups — we could not be more delighted with the group, all of which are led by ambitious and intelligent founders that we have backed.
“We will continue investing with this thesis with our second fund – seeking out the outliers and renegades, entrepreneurs who dream big, and want to change the world,” he added.
Toby Coppel has also worked at Yahoo!, spending a decade as their Chief Strategy Officer. During this time, he led $5bn of investments for the company including $1bn into Alibaba. Later, as an Angel Investor, he made early bets on Criteo, Pinterest and Transferwise. When asked about the continuing growth of the European technology industry, Coppel commented: “There is no better place in the world to invest in startups than Europe. The continent is more than the sum of its parts: the tech ecosystem is going from-strength-to strength in London, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Helsinki and Tel Aviv, each of which are producing global leading tech companies, from Spotify to Adyen to TransferWise.”
And what does this mean for Mosaic Ventures? “As we begin investing our second fund, we are buoyed by the evolution of the European technology industry. More of our European friends from Silicon Valley are returning home to put down roots, and bringing decades of experience with them. We look forward to watching the technology industry continue to evolve,” he concluded.