Leading Investment and Advisory Firm Now Deploying More Than Half a Billion Dollars to Build the Financial Ecosystem for the Future
NEW YORK, March 8, 2018 — Anthemis Group (Anthemis), a firm committed to cultivating change in financial services, today announced the official close of its first $106 million discretionary fund, Anthemis Venture Fund I (AVF I). The fund focuses on early stage seed and Series A investments in U.S. and European digitally native financial services companies. This close of AVF I brings Anthemis’ total deployed and deployable capital to north of $500 million across all vehicles, including its balance sheet, and corporate investment partnerships. The fund serves as a significant step in reaching the firm’s goal to build an interconnected financial services ecosystem for the Information Age.
AVF I’s investors reflect Anthemis’ global reputation and include participants from Italy, China, the U.K., South Africa, Korea, Luxembourg and the U.S. AVF I has already been deployed against more than 19 early stage investments including SME bank disruptor Tide; deep-stack insurtech player Qover; developer platform Truelayer; and solar data and insurance enabler, kWh Analytics.
“For the past ten years, we’ve had the opportunity to identify and work with some of the most visionary startups that are defining new categories in the financial services space,” said Amy Nauiokas, Anthemis founder and president. “We’re excited about what we’ve already accomplished with this new fund. AVF I affirms our investment thesis and the value of decades of deep industry expertise in charting our financial future.”
“Ping An is delighted to be investing in Anthemis Venture Fund 1 through the Ping An Global Voyager Fund,” said Jonathan Larsen, chief innovation officer, Ping An Group and CEO, Ping An Global Voyager Fund. “Anthemis is a pioneer in early-stage fintech venture investing and has built an impressive track record of successful investments in digitally native companies. This is a crucial time for the financial services industry and we look forward to gaining great value from our partnership with the Anthemis team. For Ping An, such partnerships form an important complement to the Global Voyager Fund’s direct investment activities in mid- and growth-stage fintech companies.”
Anthemis’ investment vehicles include a diversified portfolio of 66 companies and three investment partnership funds. Early investments reflect Anthemis’ dedication to category-defining startups that are reinventing financial services for the 21st century, and include Betterment, Trov and Happy Money. Anthemis also invests in venture and growth funds including Backstage Capital, Apis Partners and Seedcamp. Previous exits include Fidor Bank, purchased by France’s BPCE in 2016; Simple, sold to BBVA for $117 million in 2014; and The Climate Corporation, acquired by Monsanto for $930 million in 2013.
“We’re in the middle of a major transition, and financial services sits at the nexus of every major industry in the world,” said Sean Park, founder, chairman and chief investment officer at Anthemis. “AVF I brings Anthemis a number of new world-class investors and allows us to continue to support innovation for this new reality—one that prioritizes rebuilding financial services to create lasting industry change.”
The Anthemis Venture Fund I investment team is led by Sean Park and Amy Nauiokas— named to Insitutional Investor’s Fintech Finance 40— and Yann Ranchere.
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About Anthemis
Anthemis cultivates change in financial services by building, growing, and sustaining businesses committed to improving the world. Our deep understanding of markets and models, passion for emerging technology and spirit of collaboration inspire everything we do. By creating fertile ground for entrepreneurs, institutions, researchers, academics, and visionaries to come together, we believe we can solve the financial services world’s most pressing challenges faster, better and for the benefit of all. Learn more at www.anthemis.com.