Early stage investor Seedcamp, which has focused on Europe for 18 years, announced Monday that it has raised $320 million for its latest fund to expand its presence in the United States.
Fund VII is the investment firm's largest to date, double the $180 million it raised as Fund VI in 2023. But Seedcamp is splitting that amount to focus more on growth-stage investments. $220 million is earmarked for Seedcamp VII, an early-stage investment vehicle, with the remaining $100 million set aside for follow-on growth-stage investments through a new fund called Select.
Seedcamp already has offices in New York City and Miami, but the company is now expanding its team in the U.S. in an effort to further connect its European portfolio to U.S. customers and investors, especially as San Francisco and Silicon Valley have regained their positions as centers of gravity in recent years.
“We need to connect founders to nodes that they can connect to,” Reshma Sohoni, co-founder and managing partner at Seedcamp, told TechCrunch.
Sohoni said the company will continue its philosophy of being one of the first investors in future startups, even before they are commercialized, before they are profitable, and even before they gain traction. The firm leverages its extensive network of portfolio startups and LPs for deal flow.
This paper was very helpful to Seedcamp. The company was one of the first investors in several successful technology companies, including Fluidstack, Hopin, Pleo, Revolut, Synthesia, UiPath, and Wise. Its portfolio of more than 550 companies includes 12 unicorns and $1 billion in assets under management.
Sohoni said Seedcamp VII will invest about $1 million as an initial check in about 100 to 120 startups and is looking to continue investing in subsequent rounds. The growth fund will follow the Series B round and invest approximately $3 million to $5 million per check.
Sohoni said Fund VII's limited partners include British Business Bank, Harbourvest, Schroders and Sofina, as well as 80 founders of portfolio companies who participated as angel investors.
Sohoni said Seedcamp will continue to invest across sectors, but said the company will continue to avoid capital-intensive businesses like mobility and marketplaces.
“We tend to avoid capital-intensive startups because raising working capital is not a good model from day one. […] We are definitely a commercially driven investor,” Sohoni said.
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