Target Global, the pan-European venture capital firm headquartered in Berlin, has raised a new €120 million early-stage fund, following what it claims was only 3 months of fundraising.Dubbed &Early Stage Fund II&, the new vehicle will see the firm continue to back early-stage tech companies across Europe and Israel, leading and co-leading seed and Series A rounds.
It also has a later-stage growth fund and a dedicated mobility fund, and in combination Target Global currently has over €800 million in assets under management.&Our ‘Early Stage Fund II& will pretty much follow the same strategy as our ‘Early Stage Fund I&; same team, same size, same investment strategy,& Shmuel Chafets, General Partner and Vice-Chairman at Target Global, tells TechCrunch.&We had long debates around fund size, and despite it being oversubscribed, we opted to keep it at the original €120 million, which we believe is optimal for European early-stage at the moment and will also us to both deliver venture returns to LPs and give our founders the time and attention that early stage companies need&.To that end, Target Global — which has a 50-person team across offices in Berlin, London, Tel Aviv, Moscow and Barcelona — says it will continue to focus on startups that are disrupting &truly European, trillion-Euro industries,& citing retail, financial services, food, mobility, healthcare, and manufacturing organizations, and the application of technologies such as SaaS, online marketplaces and e-commerce, and AI.&Category leaders& that the VC has already backed include Auto1, Delivery Hero, Wefox, TravelPerk, and Rapyd.&We like to invest in companies that target huge markets and with great teams that have relevant experience for the problem they are solving and that show durability,& adds Chafets.
&It is very rare to have a team in the pre-A stage that really has all the answers around product-market-fit and technology.
Most companies go through good and bad times, we try to find the founders that would go the distance&.Target Global, the Berlin-headquartered VC, opens London officeMeanwhile, Target Global is also announcing that Dr Ricardo Schäfer has been appointed as a new partner for Early-Stage Fund II.
He&ll be leading the firm early-stage investments in its London office.
Described as a serial angel investor and an early backer of Revolut, Schäfer was most recently part of Seedcamp investment team, as well as a Venture Partner with Cherry Ventures.&We are happy to strengthen our London team with such an experienced and successful early-stage investor,& says Alex Frolov, General Partner and CEO at Target Global, in a statement.
&With his focus on fintech and proptech, and a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach, we feel that it an excellent match both for our Target Global investment strategy and our culture&.