It is said that European VCs do not have the firepower to compete with US VCs. Perhaps further evidence of this view continues in news that Berlin-based Cherry Ventures has closed its latest fund for $500 million, split into early and follow-on rounds in Series B and later. Masu.
A statement from Cherry built that ambition. They hope to use the fund to help build “the first trillion dollar company in Europe.” This sought a reversal of the “destiny and dark” narrative about the European economy.
That’s great, but the evidence that European startups are currently on the trillion dollar path remains thin on the ground. Appropriately, if AI plays as a juggernaut, everyone says it will be, then only a handful of the most revitalized companies in this field come from the neck of this forest . A recent study estimates that around $8 billion has been raised by European AI companies, compared to about $97 billion raised in the US for AI startups. Yes, it’s not just money, but its capital is an important part of the mix, as Cherry and other VCs know.
Cherry did not place a timeline on that desire.
Venture capital funding in the UK, Europe’s largest startup market, fell 50% from the previous quarter, as startups have only secured around $2.9 billion, according to the HSBC Innovation Banking Report.
The Cherry Ventures themselves didn’t even appear in last year’s HEC-Dow Jones Venture Capital Rankink.
Meanwhile, Revolut supporter Balderton Capital has recently been able to raise $1.3 billion from European tech startups, agreeing that Europe is missing out on the AI boom.
Cherry’s final fund, announced in early 2022, arrived for 300 million euros ($312 million). VC’s portfolio includes space technology startup exploration company, grocery delivery startup Flink, neurosurgery microrobot company Rebeaute, owner Flix SE of Greyhound, and Logistics Unicorn Forto.
The new fund’s LPS includes Wolt entrepreneur Miki Kusi. Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell. And then Jochen Engert’s Flix.
The 18 exits at Cherry Ventures include cow exchanges, Ninetead and homely.
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