Fasanara Capital launches $350 million VC fund for fintech and crypto startups

Fasanara Capital has launched a $350 million VC fund dedicated to finding the next-generation of global fintech and Web3 pioneers.

This is Fasanara’s third venture fund and is intended to capitalise on the increasing level of innovation it sees from its vantage point as one of Europe’s leading digital lenders and trader in digital assets, including crypto.

The London-based asset management and technology platform has already backed two of Europe’s fastest growing fintech unicorns: Italian Buy Now, Pay Later firm ScalaPay and German tech rentals startup Grover.

Fintechs raised €26 billion in 2021. 10% went to crypto and DeFi startups

Fasanara Capital, which has recently been named one of the fastest growing companies of 2022 by the Financial Times, is a tech-enabled hedge fund that identified the opportunity in tech and in lending to fintechs before most other asset managers.

Launched in 2011, the tech-enabled hedge fund has more than $3.5bn AUM and helps bridge the gap between credit-starved SMEs and European institutional investors looking to support new technologies in ways that are sustainable, scalable and empowered by data.

In 2021, four out of Europe’s top 10 most valuable tech companies were fintechs. That year, the European fintech industry saw 750 financing deals for startups, adding up to nearly €26 billion in investment, and Europe’s VCs invested a record €2.2 billion into cryptocurrency and DeFi startups.

Fasanara has a portfolio of 29 startups and scaling tech businesses, including: Twig, the Web3 enabled finance solution and marketplace for the circular economy; Scalapay, the Italian Buy Now Pay Later firm; and Grover, Europe’s market leader in technology rentals.

Fasanara opens VC fund to external investors

Having only made its first early-stage equity investments three years ago, two of Fasanara Capital’s current portfolio companies have this month reached unicorn status after closing their most recent, respective funding rounds.

ScalaPay, the Italian Buy Now, Pay Later firm led by Simone Mancini which Fasanara invested in at launch in 2019, recently became Italy’s first unicorn after raising a large Series B round. Similarly Fasanara has been heavily involved in the growth of Europe’s market leader in technology rentals, Grover, investing in its Series B and Series C rounds. The German company, which provides electronics including smartphones on subscription plans, is now valued at over $1 billion after its latest funding round.

Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital: “The European asset management industry is on the brink of a huge tech-led transformation and Fasanara Capital has been at the forefront of this change, both as a digital lender and trader of alternative assets. Over the past eleven years we have developed a deep understanding of the fintech ecosystem, have financed more than $30bn of digital loans and receivables and have had the opportunity to invest in some of the preeminent digital technology startups in the market. Europe is the natural place for technology innovation and financial services to come together to create companies with huge potential – both for consumers and businesses.

“Having gained a reputation as the leader in the space, we are now seeing a dealflow of unprecedented quality and we want to capitalise on it. We are excited about opening up our venture capital investment fund to external investors who also see the size of this opportunity and can help amazing founders to build world-beating companies.”