A capital firm, Venture platform Plural has recently initiated its second fund with the goal of raising €400m (£342.6m) to support early-stage ‘tech titans’. Established in June 2022, the firm boasts a foundation led by Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, in collaboration with notable entrepreneurs like Songkick founder Ian Hogarth and angel investor Khaled Heloui.
In the past 18 months, Plural’s initial fund has successfully financed 26 enterprises engaged in climate and energy, AI, and frontier tech. The new fund aims to perpetuate the company’s mission of achieving ‘GDP-level impact’ in Europe while actively addressing systemic risks and bridging the opportunity gap.
Plural has secured funding from diverse sources, including UK and US university endowments, US foundations, insurers, strategic family offices from Europe and the US, and VC fund of funds.
Carina Namih, Partner at Plural, expressed, “When we launched Plural 18 months ago, we knew that European founders were being underserved by a lack of operators turned investors, but even we couldn’t have predicted so much appetite for a different approach.”
She further emphasized the trust placed in Plural by founders, stating, “We’re galvanized by the trust the founders have placed in us to support them on their journeys tackling serious problems from developing clean energy that will save the planet to making the internet safer. With Fund II, we want to take this new model of investing even deeper into the European ecosystem, where startup creation continues to outpace the US, providing a huge opportunity that we have a responsibility to maximize.”
Taavet Hinrikus added, “We know that significant technology is being built across Europe – more than 40 per cent of European tech investment in the past year has gone into frontier and deep tech.”
He highlighted the focus on supporting ambitious founders and building enduring global companies, stating, “By supporting the most ambitious founders with our hard-won experience, we’re determined to build enduring global companies that will have a GDP-level impact and be transformative for economies and society.”
encouraging to see investors recognizing the potential of emerging tech companies.
Hopefully, this fund will support companies working on solving real-world problems.
I wonder if Plural Targets will partner with any start-up incubators or accelerators.
Great to see the focus on fostering new tech talent.
Looking forward to seeing the innovations that come out of this investment.
I hope this fund prioritizes diversity and inclusivity in tech.
Investing in emerging tech is a smart move for long-term economic growth.
Plural Targets is taking a bold step with this fund. Kudos!
I’m curious to see how the £342m will be allocated among different tech companies.
This fund is a game-changer for the tech industry.
Exciting news! Looking forward to seeing how this fund supports emerging tech companies.