| New firm launches its first E50m fund |
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| Atlantic Bridge Ventures, a new technology venture capital firm based in Dublin and London, has launched its first technology fund, ABVEN I, and raised €50 million (US $65 million) at first closing. Dermot Desmond’s International Investment and Underwriting (IIU) is one of the investors in the fund. Fundraising for a second closing is expected later in the year. By achieving a first close, Atlantic Bridge is one of the few successful European venture capital teams to launch a new fund since 2000. |
The pan-European fund will focus on making early and mid-stage technology investments in semiconductors, enterprise software and mobile technology across Europe with a strong focus on a US transatlantic business building and exit model. It has already made a $6 million investment in Nanotech Semiconductor Limited, a fabless IC company specializing in advanced Analogue & Mixed-Signal ICs for Communications applications, alongside Pond Venture Partners. | | Investment in information technology is driving venture capital growth in Europe, which increased by 19 per cent to €880.3 million in the first quarter of 2005 (Ernst & Young survey). |
The fund is led by four partners; Brian Long, founder and former CEO of semiconductor company Parthus Technologies plc (now Ceva Inc.); Paul Harvey, former European Head of Technology Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs; Kevin Dillon, former VP of Microsoft Europe, Africa & the Middle East; and Elaine Coughlan, former CFO of Parthus Technologies. |
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| Article appeared in the July 2005 issue.
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