There Has Never Been a Better Time to Invest in Early-Stage Startups in Europe
Target Global announces the closing of its Early Stage Fund II
We’re incredibly proud to announce the closing of our Early Stage Fund II to double-down on our mission to back exceptional founding teams and fuel innovation and growth across Europe.
Target Global strongly believes in a pan-European ecosystem. And we’re delighted to see a growing investor base recognizing the true potential of dealflow in Europe. Early Stage Fund I was only closed in 2017, but we invested that money straight into some fantastic European companies, backing their outstanding founding teams with excellent results. With a final fund size of €120m, 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. This will allow us to do both, deliver high venture returns to our investors and give our founders the time and attention that early-stage companies need.
This trust placed in us by our investors galvanizes us to continue backing ground-breaking tech founders across the continent.
Fostering Innovation in Unexplored Territories
Having backed some of Europe’s most renowned success stories and global category leaders — including AUTO1, Delivery Hero, wefox, Rapyd, TravelPerk and DocPlanner — we see many more opportunities and exceptional entrepreneurial talent arise out of a wider and connected European ecosystem. To that end, our Early Stage Fund II reinforces our commitment to our core strategy: to systematically identify and foster emerging European ecosystems, to connect up-and-coming locations with key European hubs, and to leverage the unique DNA of every target geography. We’ll continue to seek new potential and opportunities beyond borders. We’ll keep focusing on leading and co-leading Seed and Series A rounds. And following our proven early-stage approach, we’ll invest in a maximum of 25 startups, cherry-picking the finest teams and empowering them to scale globally.
Our Proven and Diverse Team Is Our Key Asset
Target Global is listed among the top 10 European Series A Investors. And our experienced and entrepreneurial team can recognize tomorrow’s global category leaders, thanks to a strong network and a proven instinct for untapped potential. For Early-Stage Fund II, we’re thrilled to welcome experienced investor and serial business angel Dr. Ricardo Schäfer as a Partner, supported by our Investment Director Lina Chong and the wider investment team.
Based in the most exciting tech hubs in Europe — Berlin, London, Tel-Aviv, and now Barcelona — our early-stage team operates quickly and decisively. The team will continue to be the first on the ground, identifying great opportunities in FinTech, SaaS and marketplaces, and skilled people in new hubs such as Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands and less obvious places such as Warsaw and Bratislava.
Empowering the European Market to Deliver on Its Promise
Retail, financial services, food, mobility, healthcare, manufacturing — these industries and markets are ripe for digital disruption. And with the increase in early-stage venture capital, there is an incredible opportunity to help Europe demonstrate its potential for innovation, nurturing those who seek pioneering solutions to global problems. In the spirit of this, Early Stage Fund II will continue to partner with exceptional European founders who think out of the box, break new ground, explore completely new territories and dare to disrupt these quintessentially European industries and show durability.
We believe potential should never be limited. And it’s a responsibility we all share. For Europe to demonstrate its true technological prowess, it’s up to everyone in the wider investment community to see the bigger picture, and to search out and support the innovators that have the power to change the world.
Here’s to working together to connect the dots!
Best,
Target team
About Target Global: Target Global is an international investment firm headquartered in Berlin, with over €800m in assets under management. With offices in London, Tel Aviv and Barcelona, we connect the key European startup ecosystems and leverage the unique DNA of each of our target geographies, across our global network. Building on our experienced team with substantial operational and investment experience, we help exceptional entrepreneurs to build market leaders. Target Global invests across multiple stages, investing in fast-growing tech companies, targeting trillion € markets. Our Partners have been investing for more than 15 years in the digital technology space, backing some of the key European success stories. The Target Global portfolio includes companies such as Auto1, Delivery Hero, Omio (formerly GoEuro), TravelPerk and WeFox. https://www.targetglobal.vc/
