Skype Co-Founder Said to Seek 300 Million Euros for Fund
Skype Technologies SA co-founder Niklas Zennstrom’s investment firm is raising a 300 million euro ($386 million) fund to back global technology companies, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Atomico Ventures III LP has gathered about 250 million euros, surpassing the $165 million the prior fund raised in 2010, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. European Investment Fund, based in Luxembourg, is a limited partner, according to its website.
Olivia Doherty, a spokeswoman for London-based Atomico, declined to comment.
Zennstrom, who founded the venture capital firm in 2006, searches for young companies trying to take advantage of the increasing popularity of smartphones and Internet shopping. Atomico was part of a consortium that sold Skype, which Zennstrom co-founded with Janus Friis in 2003, to Microsoft Corp. last year for $8.5 billion in cash.
The firm also has invested in Klarna, a Swedish provider of e-commerce payment systems; Rovio Entertainment Oy, the Finnish maker of the Angry Birds mobile game; and Internet sales site Fab.com.
Atomico has made more than 50 investments globally, according to its website. It has offices in Sao Paulo, Beijing, Istanbul and Tokyo.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sabrina Willmer in New York at swillmer2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Baumgaertel at cbaumgaertel@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.