Outward Venture Capital, previously named INVC, has announced the first close of its inaugural Fund

Outward VC Fund LLP (the “Fund”), a venture capital fund that invests at late-seed to series A stage in fintech category leaders headquartered in the UK, has held a first close on approximately half of its £75 million target. The Fund’s founding investors, Investec Bank plc and NIBC, are joined by a range of UK and international investors. The Fund will be open to new investors for a 12-month window as it seeks complementary institutional and private LPs.

Outward VC has been in operation for the past 18 months and was an early investor in Monese, Curve and Bud. Core to the Fund’s strategy is to reserve a substantial portion of the Fund for follow-on investments, evidenced by its recent follow-on investments in Monese’s $60m Series B in September 2018, Bud’s $20m Series A in February 2019, and Curve’s $55m Series B in July 2019. Outward VC is seeing a four times average multiple of first money invested so far.

Kevin Chong, Co-head of Outward VC commented:

“London’s fintech ecosystem is leading the world and we have a deep pipeline of attractive opportunities. A number of investments are under negotiation and we will be announcing new portfolio companies over the summer.”

As Outward VC invests in companies that address large global market opportunities, Investec and NIBC’s combined reach across Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the US is a major advantage for Outward VC’s portfolio companies.

Nils Schaffner, NIBC’s Head of Fintech UK said:

“We are convinced that tech and fintech are poised to deliver the next generation of global category leaders. This unique initiative fits with NIBC’s entrepreneurial spirit and is a perfect opportunity to leverage NIBC’s platform across Northwest Europe and its existing fintech relationships including with OakNorth, Ebury, and iwoca as well as leading German fintech company builder Finleap. We are very excited to work closely with the Outward VC team and support its portfolio of leading fintech companies.”

Devin Kohli Co-Head of Outward VC added:

“Outward VC’s distinctive edge is leveraging the platforms of its investors to add real value to portfolio companies and we have demonstrated this by facilitating follow-on funding from top tier investors, senior hires, and commercial partnerships for our existing portfolio companies.”

With its investment mandate based on full alignment with founders and other shareholders, the Fund is not bound by the corporate strategy considerations of its investors in selecting investments.