For entrepreneurs and startups, one of the main challenges is finding the necessary funding to test and advance their project, especially in the early stages of their professional career. So much so that to launch their product or technology to the market, many of them usually provide the necessary capital themselves or resort to the so-called family, friends and fools, that is, family, friends or acquaintances. However, sometimes these investments are not enough and they must seek external financing. With the aim of boosting the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem, 4Founders Capital has closed its third fund with 70 million euros and the forecast of investing in about 40 technological startups that are in early stages.
With this figure, the management company has managed to exceed the initial target for this third fund, which it set at 65 million euros. The capital for this new fund has been contributed mainly by institutional investors such as the European Investment Fund (EIF) ---promoted by the European Union---, or the Innvierte program of the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) ---promoted by the Government--- or the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), as well as insurers, family offices and a large number of digital entrepreneurs.
In fact, 88% of these investors had already participated in previous funds promoted by 4Founders Capital, "which, without a doubt, validates the strategy and good returns," remarks Marc Badosa, co-founder of the management company along with Jesús Monleón ---founder of the SeedRocket accelerator and Emagister---, Javier Pérez-Tenessa ---founder of eDreams--- and Marek Fodor ---co-founder of Atrápalo---. These four entrepreneurs, who lead this new fund along with the business angel Paula Blázquez, have a solid track record as founders of up to six companies that today already generate tens of millions annually. A fact that they consider key to understanding the path of the companies in which they invest and their needs, especially in their beginnings.
With this announcement, the Barcelona-based venture capital firm has already reached 134 million euros under management, a figure that consolidates it as the largest manager in early stages, also called pre-seed, in all of Spain, managing to accompany these companies until divestment. Although its purpose and vision is generalist, 4Founders Capital wants to focus especially on companies driven from Spain with a high technological component and that, despite still being in very early stages, have global ambition. Thus, the capital manager wants to focus on expanding sectors such as fintech, traveltech or cybersecurity.
Precisely these are the sectors of the first five companies in which this third fund of the Barcelona-based capital manager has already invested. The travel application Mogu, the commerce and collection point system Punto Post, the training application Showme, the tool to create digital services with artificial intelligence Altan and the cybersecurity company Steryon are the first operations that join the portfolio of this third fund. With initial tickets of between 300,000 euros and 2 million, the forecast is to invest in about 40 startups over the next four years.
This third fund aims to achieve similar results to the first two launched by the manager since it was founded in Barcelona in 2017. The first of them, with a capital of 12 million euros, has managed to generate 1.65 euros for every euro invested. This first fund has seen successful startups such as the Barcelona-based Holded, which was sold for 200 million in 2021 or the fintech Flanks, and currently has an active portfolio with 13 participated companies, such as Mailsuite, Baluwo or Scoolinary. For its part, the second fund was launched in 2021 with 50 million euros, and has 38 startups in its portfolio, in which companies such as Embat, TaxDown, Viterbit and Dealcar stand out.