Funding opportunity
Frog Capital, a London-based European investment firm that invests in cleantech and information technology, has expanded its funds under management from €60 million to €100 million and brought in a new Managing Partner, Mike Reid, from 3i plc.
Frog, formerly known as Foursome Investments, is funded by the Engelhorn family. The firm’s portfolio includes six cleantech companies. One of these has exited through a sale to the UK water company Severn-Trent plc.
At a time when other funds are nursing wounded investments, or getting out of the market completely, Frog Capital says it is expanding because the Engelhorn family’s backing allows it to think long-term and counter-cyclically. The firm notes that downturns are profitable for careful investors with real insight into the market, and says its blend of sector-based investing and flexible range of deal types means it can team up effectively with many of Europe’s best entrepreneurial teams.
With the expansion of the fund, cleantech will remain a core activity, but Frog says there are too many opportunities in the IT and digital media markets to ignore. It is leading, or working in partnership, on deals from between €2 million and €20 million, with growth stage companies in both of these sectors.
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