Acton Capital

Acton Capital
FormerlyAction Capital Partners
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture capital
Founded1999; 26 years ago (1999)
FoundersChristoph Braun, Paul-Bernhard Kallen, Jan-Gisbert Schultze, Frank Seehaus
Headquarters
Munich
,
Germany
Number of locations
Munich and Vancouver
ProductsInvestments, Venture capital, growth capital
Websiteactoncapital.com

Acton Capital is a German venture capital fund, founded in Munich and investing in tech-enabled startup companies in Europe and North America.[1]

History

As one of the first venture capital funds in Europe, Acton Capital invested in startups of the early Digital Economy. The first investment was online auction platform Alando in Germany,[2] acquired by eBay in 1999 for $43 million.[3] In November 2019, Acton Capital announced the closing of its fifth fund "Acton V" at $215 million.[4]

Investments and exits

Acton Capital's investment focus is on tech-enabled business models like platforms, software as a service (SaaS) or online marketplaces and in fields such as financial technology (fintech), mobility, healthcare and Direct-to-consumer or recommerce.[5] Exited investments include online marketplace AbeBooks - acquired by Amazon in 2008,[6] online retailer of pet supplies zooplus - IPO in 2008,[7] luxury fashion platform mytheresa.com - acquired by Neiman Marcus Group in 2014,[8] global online marketplace Etsy - IPO in 2015[9] and Canadian software developer Themis Solutions (´Clio`) in 2019 to US private equity firms TCV and JMI Equity.[10] The current portfolio of Acton Capital includes Software as a service company Mambu, fintech iwoca from the UK, student jobs platform Zenjob, the global information service company AlphaSights both founded in Berlin and Canadian telemedicine platform Maple.[11]

Acton Capital was part of a Series B funding round for German car subscription provider Cluno, acquired by British online car retailer Cazoo in February 2021 and early investor in the global core banking engine Mambu.[12][13] The B2B Software-as-a-service company announced a $266mn funding round by Acton Capital Partners and US investment firms EQT, TCV and Bessemer. [14]

In 2020, Acton Capital led the Series B round in London-based elderly care platform Elder Technologies Ltd.,[15] the Series A funding round in Paris-based logistics platform Convelio[16] and is invested in UK based online car retailer Cazoo, that was listed on the New York Stock Exchange at a $7bn valuation in 2021.[17]

In November 2023, Acton Capital announced the closing of its sixth Venture capital fund at Euro 225 million to invest in tech-enabled business models like legal technology, hybrid work, cyber security or AI-driven solutions. [18]

References

  1. ^ "German late-stage technology investment firm Acton closes fresh $200 million fund". TechEU. October 26, 2015.
  2. ^ "Acton: "Wir blicken nicht auf Trends, wir interessieren uns für Substanz"". BerlinValley. May 25, 2017.
  3. ^ "eBay wins German bid". CNN. June 22, 1999.
  4. ^ "Acton sammelt 193 Millionen Euro für Start-ups ein". Handelsblatt. November 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "Acton Capital Portfolio". actoncapital.com. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  6. ^ "Amazon acquires AbeBooks". VersionOne. VersionOne. August 1, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  7. ^ "zooplus goes public on Frankfurt stock exchange".
  8. ^ "Neiman Marcus acquires MyTheresa". The Independent. September 15, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  9. ^ "Crafts website company Etsy valued at $4 billion in market debut". Reuters. April 16, 2015.
  10. ^ "Clio raises 330 million CAD Series D funding round". BetaKit. March 22, 2020.
  11. ^ "Maple raises $14.5 million to help Canadians access virtual health care". BetaKit. March 22, 2020.
  12. ^ "Cazoo takes drive to the Continent". The Times. February 24, 2021.
  13. ^ "Mambu Raises 135M at a 2B+ Valuation for SaaS Platform That Powers Banking Services/". TechCrunch. January 7, 2021.
  14. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (December 9, 2021). "Mambu nabs $266M at a 5.5B valuation to double down on embedded financial service and banking APIs". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  15. ^ "Care start-up Elder raises £8.2m". The Times. March 22, 2020.
  16. ^ "Paris-based Convelio seals €9 million Series A for fine arts logistics platform and US expansion". Tech.eu. March 22, 2020.
  17. ^ "Why London's listing regime is not to blame for THG's troubles". November 8, 2021.
  18. ^ "Acton closes sixth fun". November 9, 2023.