Ariadne Capital, the venture firm founded by Dragons’ Den investor Julie Meyer, has attracted ten entrepreneurs to invest in its maiden fund, which expects to raise £20 million by the end of the year.
The Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs (ACE) Fund will make seed investments of between £250,000 and £1 million in internet and mobile internet companies, specifically in the areas of business applications, media technology, financial services and digital entertainment.
Entrepreneurs investing in ACE include David Rowe, Marc Worth and Rob Hersov (the respective founders of EasyNet, WGSN and Marquis Jet Europe), as well as established venture capitalist and former Sage chairman Michael Jackson, who will join the fund’s advisory committee along with former Credit Suisse and Investec executive David Potter.
Says Jackson, ‘Julie [Meyer] spots great entrepreneurs, and works tirelessly to help them build their companies. That is her unfair advantage, and I want to support her in her debut fund, bringing my 20 years of experience in the early stage technology sector.’
Meyer, who appears in the online version of BBC show Dragons’ Den, will take the role of the fund’s managing partner, working alongside existing Ariadne partners Karima Serageldin and David Scholtz.