Octopus Ventures has announced the launch of a $140m fund aimed at driving investment in high-growth later stage companies. The fund will see Octopus invest between £250,000 and £25 million into Europe’s most talented entrepreneurs, enabling the team to back businesses from inception through to the later stages of development.
The Octopus Zenith Opportunities II LP (“Octopus Opportunities fund”) is dedicated to follow on investments into existing companies within the Octopus portfolio, as well as having the opportunity to back later stage high growth businesses new to Octopus.
Octopus has already dipped into the fund to make the first investment into Secret Escapes – going in alongside Google in the $60m funding round. This follows a number of high-profile investments including Graze, Swiftkey and Zoopla.
Alex Macpherson, head of Octopus Ventures, said the firm was on the lookout for “unusually talented entrepreneurs”.
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“And we want to be there supporting them from the beginning of their business journey to the later stages of company growth and maturity,” he continued.
“The Octopus Opportunities fund is a really exciting development that enables us to keep travelling with some of our existing entrepreneurs for longer, while also providing additional funding to find new investment opportunities.”
Secret Escapes CEO Alex Saint, who has worked with Octopus since 2011, added that “they have always been great partners and supporters”.
“During this latest investment round it was fantastic to be able to lean on the Octopus team – having an investor intent on working towards the Company’s goals as well as their own meant that we were able to keep the momentum going throughout the funding process,” he said.
“The long-term relationships we have built with the team at Octopus over the last four years has played a crucial role in Secret Escape’s own development and we are pleased to be progressing these further as we continue our company’s journey.”
Further reading: UK dominates European VC activity
