Acurio Ventures, the venture capital (VC) fund manager that had previously operated under the name AII lron Ventures, today announced investment commitments for its new investment vehicle Acurio Ventures III of EUR 150 million, mostly from both international and domestic institutional and professional investors. To date, it has confirmed investments in more than twenty mainly European start-ups. The announcement of the closing of the new vehicle coincides with the launch of the new corporate identity, which from today operates as Acurio Ventures following the rebranding (www.acurio.vc).
In just eleven months since its initial closing in August 2023, the new vehicle - which brings together both a venture capital fund (Acurio Ventures Fund 111, FCR) and a venture capital company (Acurio Ventures 111 SCR, S.A.) - has managed to slightly exceed its target size of €150 million, which is in itself a great achievement in a complex market context for fundraising by the venture capital industry. In addition to the significant contribution by investors in previous funds, new investors have joined, including several institutional and international investors, which shows further endorsement of the Acurio Ventures' strategy in this new phase.
The new investors include a large and prestigious international university endowment with extensive experience investing in many of the most reputable VC managers globally. This is a most significant milestone for both Acurio Ventures and the Spanish tech ecosystem, as it is the first time an investor of this calibre has invested in a VC in Spain. Likewise, the European Investment Fund joins as an investor.
"We are very grateful for the trust placed in us by investors, both those who have supported us in the past and new ones. There is no better recognition of our track record over the last six years than to have their backing, particularly at this delicate time in the market with respect to fundraising," said Ander Michelena, founder and partner of Acurio Ventures.
"We have a differentiated value proposition and their commitment to Acurio Ventures shows that we are on the right track, and it's a boost to our ambition to consolidate our position as a VC of reference in Europe," he said.
Investment strategy:
Acurio Ventures III's strategy is a continuation of the one pursued by the team since 2018 and which has generated such good results to date. The first vehicle with the initial capital already returned and its IRR above 40%, whilst the second vehicle is placed comfortably in the top quartile. As was the norm in the past, the new fund has an alignment between managers and investors that is well above the market average. This is now reflected in investment commitments by the management company's team of more than EUR 25 million.
The new vehicle has a size of €150 million, which will be used primarily for investments in early-stage European start-ups (mainly seed and series A) and with a generalist sector approach. In this way, the new fund doubles the assets under management of the fund manager to approximately EUR 300 million in total.
Acurio Ventures will continue to act primarily as a co-investor. This will result, among other things, in a highly diversified portfolio of around 50 companies, equity stakes of between three and ten percent, and greater flexibility to access companies, manage follow-on investment reserves and undertake divestments.
Acurio Ventures' operations will continue to rely on a series of unique elements, such as: its identity as an operator and its peer-to-peer relationship with entrepreneurs, its ability to attract international investors, make investment decisions quickly and add value to the companies in which it invests.
The team has been capitalising on favourable market conditions for investment. Thus, Acurio Ventures III now has more than twenty companies in its portfolio, both Spanish and international, having committed close to EUR 40 million to date. Several of the portfolio companies have already had follow-on rounds, which has resulted in the new fund's (TVPI) of 1.22x, thus avoiding the J-curve, all at a very early stage in the building of the portfolio.
A leap forward as a European asset manager
With this new vehicle, Acurio Ventures now has assets under management of close to €300 million. This new fund is a significant milestone in its vision and aspiration to become a leading European VC manager.
Until the launch of this new fund, Acurio Ventures had three investment vehicles (two for direct investment in startups and one for investment in European VC funds), having invested to date in more than 90 companies (around 60% of them international, mainly European), including Seedtag, Jobandtalent, Indexa Capital, Lingokids, Preply, Refurbed, and Lookiero, as well as in around 15 European VC funds.
Apart from continuing to invest in the best projects in Spain, with this new fund Acurio Ventures is doubling down on its international commitment, as the fund has already seen and been able to invest in more than 70% of all investments made in VC in Europe (250-300 opportunities per week) in the second quarter of 2024.
It has a team of 12 people based in Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona, and London, led by founding partner Ander Michelena, and partners Diego Recondo and Hugo Mardomingo—both part of the project since its launch in 2018—and Kate Cornell, who joined in 2022.
In this regard, Ander Michelena said that "with our new vehicle we are taking a step forward in our growth process as a VC manager, and we are doing so by leveraging all the lessons we have learned over the past few years. We strongly believe in the technology opportunity in Europe and we are better equipped than ever to seize upon it."
Acurio, a name with origins in Biscay and an international vision
The announcement of the closure of Acurio Ventures III comes at the same time as the management company's rebranding.
On the one hand, the new name of Acurio Ventures maintains the management company's ties to its Basque origins, as it is inspired by Juan de Acurio, originally from Bermeo, Biscay, and one of the 12 sailors who returned to port from the expedition around the world led by Magellan and Elcano five centuries ago. The Basque sailor was the boatswain on board the Victoria, the only one of the three ships that departed that managed to return, and he played a key role in the success of the expedition.
In addition, it is a story of innovation and a strong international character that perfectly fits in with the vision and mentality that the partners of Acurio Ventures have as a firm.
"Although he was never in the limelight of history, Juan de Acurio played an essential role in the expedition and he was instrumental in its successful completion. At Acurio Ventures we aspire to be a Juan de Acurio that entrepreneurs - the real heroes - will want by their side," concluded Ander Michelena.
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