Molten Ventures today announces the acquisition of a significant majority stake in Connect Venture' first fund through a secondary transaction. This strategic move is part of Molten's ongoing commitment to acquiring LP positions in funds made up of later stage portfolios with strong potential for near-term realisation.
Molten Ventures has acquired approximately 97% of Connect Ventures Fund I for around £18.6 million. Launched in 2012, Connect Ventures Fund I now holds eight minority positions in technology companies across the mobile, internet, and digital media sectors in Europe. Notably, 85% of the value of the portfolio is driven by two standout companies: Typeform, a leading cloud-based SaaS platform for survey data collection, and Soldo, an expense management platform. Both companies were backed at the seed stage by Connect Ventures in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and have since demonstrated significant growth.
This acquisition reinforces the strength of Connect Ventures’ distinctive investment thesis, which focuses on backing product-centric software companies with ambition to scale efficiently and generate long-term value, making them attractive to top-tier investors at later stages. Connect Ventures will continue to manage Fund I following the acquisition.
Martin Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Molten Ventures, commented:
“This latest secondary acquisition is a testament to the strength of our network relationships, with existing Connect Ventures funds already part of our Fund of Funds programme. Following a series of strong realisations combined with our available resources, Molten is well-positioned to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Pietro Bezza, Managing Partner at Connect Ventures, added:
"As seed fund managers, creating early liquidity opportunities for our LPs is crucial. In today's challenging M&A and IPO environment, secondary transactions provide an excellent avenue for LPs to realise gains. We are delighted to welcome Molten to Fund I, further strengthening our long-standing partnership."
This acquisition is in line with Molten Ventures' strategy of accessing exceptional secondary investments at attractive valuations. Molten’s secondary investment strategy, which includes prior acquisitions of secondary positions in Seedcamp Funds I, II, and III, as well as Earlybird DWES Fund IV and Earlybird Digital East Fund I, has to date delivered a multiple of 2.5x in aggregate on invested capital to date.