Finnish Industry Investment, the government owned investment company, has committed €7.5 million to the new Creandum III fund, which has not been officially closed. The fund has already raised 92.5 million at first closing, and aims to hit €150 million at final closing. The fund’s focus is on consumer ventures with internet and mobile technologies, as well as on software and hardware investments.
Creandum has invested in many startups we cover frequently, although most of their digital investments, including Spotify, Wrapp, iZettle, and Videoplaza, are from Sweden. Creandum currently has €120 million in management with their most recent fund opening in 2007, making this predicted €150 million fund a huge opportunity for the Stockholm-based VC firm to continue their solid investments in the region.
Finnish Industry Investment has a history of investing in these VC funds on top of their direct investments. In the past two years, Finnish Industry Investment has invested €5 million in Vision Plus (the Finnish revenue share fund we covered), €10 million in VNT Management, and €5 million in Open Ocean Capital.
On the investment, Anne Riekki, Director for Fund Investments at Finnish Industry Investment Ltd comments, “Creandum’s investment focus is a good match with the deal flow we see in Finland. We expect Creandum to bring added value to its investee companies through active ownership and access to its international network.”
We’ll cover more on the Creandum III fund when it reaches the final close.
