LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Technology-focussed venture capital firm Draper Esprit announced the acquisition of Seedcamp Funds I and II for £17.9m on Wednesday.
The AIM-traded company said that as a result, it has acquired stakes in "high profile" growing technology companies including fintech business Transferwise.

It said the portfolio also included a number of "promising companies" including Codacy, Edited, Erply, Fishbrain, Codility, Winnow, Codeship and Try.com.

The portfolio's last reported net asset value was £23.5m, resulting in an increase of £5.6m for the company, against the latest reported NAV per share as at 30 September of 372p.

"Although principally a primary series A, B and C VC Growth investor, we have also been very active over the years as a secondary tech investor in Europe having acquired a number of well-known VC portfolios and increasingly taking large direct stakes in later stage companies," said Draper Esprit CEO Simon Cook.

"Together with our recently announced seed fund of funds strategy we can offer long term patient capital solutions for all European tech companies and their investors outside of the constraints of a typical 5+5 year fund."

Cook said Draper Esprit enjoyed a "great relationship" with Seedcamp, and recently invested directly in their Seedcamp IV fund to give its investors access to seed stage opportunities.

"This acquisition further bolsters our growing secondary business; and we are excited to work with a really good portfolio of European technology companies including Transferwise, one of Europe's most successful startups."

Draper Esprit said international money transfer platform Transferwise would be added to its core portfolio.

Co-founded by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, TransferWise launched in 2011 and was described as one of Europe's "most successful" fintech startups, having raised $117m in funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Sir Richard Branson, Valar Ventures and Max Levchin of PayPal.

More than one million people use TransferWise to transfer over $1.2bn every month.

"We are thrilled to help our Seedcamp companies scale to the next level with the support and firepower of Draper Esprit," said Seedcamp co-founder and managing partner Reshma Sohoni.

"As the Seedcamp team continue to manage Funds 1 and 2, Draper is the perfect partner to help us manage these businesses moving forward and ensure we continue to go above and beyond in delivering returns to our LPs."

Following the deal, Draper Esprit said it will continue to invest further in the portfolio to help it develop and grow, working closely with both the team at Seedcamp and within the portfolio companies as they expand.

The Seedcamp management team would continue to work closely alongside the Draper Esprit team, the board said, to manage the portfolio and to create further value for founders and investors in the funds.

To date, the combined Seedcamp Funds I and II, raised in 2007 and 2010, have returned over 4x capital to their investors.

Seedcamp would also continue its management of other Seedcamp funds unrelated to the transaction, Draper Esprit confirmed.

"We see this as a great outcome working alongside experienced and knowledgeable investors who've supported us for many years," commented another managing partner at Seedcamp, Carlos Eduardo Espinal.

"We are always looking at innovative ways to deliver exceptional returns to our LPs and believe this transaction is a win-win for everyone involved.

"We look forward to continuing to work with the growing companies and founders from our first and second funds with Draper's added horsepower."

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