EIF supports Notion Capital in $100 m first close

EIF has committed €20m from the European Commission CIP mandate to Notion Capital II, the first institutional fund to be raised by Notion Capital. The team composed of entrepreneurs and business managers was responsible for founding and building the email security company MessageLabs through to its sale to Symantec for c. $700m.  With a strategy focused on the UK but with a broader remit for investment in Europe the fund will target typically early stage “Software as a Service” companies.

EIF collaborated with Capital for Enterprise in the UK to structure the fund as an Enterprise Capital Fund (“ECF”). This is the first time that EIF and Capital for Enterprise have invested together in an ECF. EIF’s contribution towards establishing Notion as a pan-European institutional fund manager has been crucial. Stephen Chandler, Managing Partner said “At the moment institutional investing is an important part of the ecosystem that’s pretty quiet. It’s a challenging fundraising environment, and the public sector has done a good job of stepping into the gap.”.

With the new fund, Notion is intent on continuing the past success; Jos White, Partner said “we’re trying to back innovative companies we think can make it big. All too often in Europe, there’s a tendency not to think big, when actually those companies have the opportunity to do much better than that.”

John Holloway, Director Transaction and Relationship Management at the European Investment Fund noted the significant success in achieving a first closing at $100m: “A key aim of EIF is to support emerging fund managers in their development towards established market participants. With a first closing at $100m, EIF is not alone in recognising the merits of Notion Capital’s strategy underpinned by their demonstrated ability to create value in their target market”.

About the EIF

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance.  EIF designs and develops venture capital and guarantees instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. The EIF total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over EUR 6bn at end 2011. With investments in over 370 funds, the EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. The EIF guarantees loan portfolio totalled over EUR4.4bn in close to 220 operations at end 2011, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

Press contact:

Joëlle Harvey, EIF Communications, tel +352 426 688 346, e-mail: j.harvey@eif.org