For those who don’t know, Atomico is the investment arm started by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (Skype founders), with their payday from the eBay acquisition. Atomico is a new breed of player in the European (and global) investment scene, the kind of player that will step up and fill the void left by 3i.
Atomico has done a few investments so far, in companies that have some disruptive traits that could make them global successes : Last.fm, FON, Joost,… While last.fm was successfully sold to CBS for $280M, the latter two are still in the growing pains.
Now Atomico is rumored to have raised a new 300 M€ fund. This is excellent news, seen as conquering Europe (from a VC perspective). I like to see it also as a chance for the best European startups to partner with a team that has proven they can scale a project to global ambitions and success.
Join our Facebook group !
Join our LinkedIn group !
Add us to Technorati Favorites !
Truthfully when it comes to Series A it might be better to look at angels or constructions like Atomico. VC companies deal with the high risk by bringing in awful terms like multiple “participation” preferences and other kickers and can really dampen the enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs. (Not all are like this by the way). By definition the company is in a better place to negotiate when needing Series B or higher and VC then becomes a better option.
Isn’t Mangrove fund, from Luxembourg, one of Skype first VC, this time partner of Atomico?