Zopa backer Northzone raises €1bn for new fintech fund
UK venture capital (VC) firm Northzone has raised a €1bn (£868bn) for a new fund to invest in fintechs, web 3.0 technology and cryptocurrencies.
Northzone has previously invested in former peer-to-peer lender Zopa, as well as alternative lender MarketFinance and European marketplace lending platform Crosslend.
It has also backed tech behemoths such as Klarna and Spotify, crypto infrastructure start-up Magic Labs, web 3.0 privacy firm Sunscreen, and DeFi protocol Gro in the past.
Read more: Zopa reviewing “strategic direction” of P2P lending platform
Northzone will use the new fund to back crypto and fintech start-ups, according to a report in Block, with partner Wendy Xiao Schadeck telling the publication that crypto is a “core sector” for the firm.
Xiao Schadeck said she expected web 3.0 and web 2.0 to converge over the lifetime of the fund.
“For instance, some of the web 2.0 fintech companies in our last fund have launched tokens and some of our gaming companies have decided to base their follow-on rounds from web 3.0 VCs – so it’s really hard to say exactly where the delineation will be,” she said.
The firm is yet to invest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), unlike rival Blossom Capital, which Block reports has invested in high-profile NFTs, such as a Bored Ape, a CryptoPunk, and an Azuki.
“It’s not at a point where we say we’ll dedicate a portion of the funding to buy NFTs or anything like that,” Xiao Schadeck added. “So far, we haven’t found that specifically, NFTs themselves are an investment case that fits our venture criteria.”
Read more: Crypto lender Nexo issues first NFT-backed loan
