Think your best bet at an investment is in Silicon Valley –
think again. Your best shot at cash might lie in EuroLand, where
strategic investors could be important customers. Ariadne Capital
has relationships with a number of corporate investors that
have been successfully leveraged for fast-growing U.S. companies. |
We look for companies
that define themselves by the markets they’re after rather than
categories of investment appeal. So instead of software, hardware
or nanotechnology, think of the end customer you’re serving. If
they’re in industries such as wireless, media or automotive – Europe’s
leadership position in them can be to your benefit. Investment from
a European corporate brings both cash and critical market validation.
And it can draw in VCs such as Ariadne Capital who co-invest with
them.
In case you’ve missed the news in the last six months, Europe’s
top carmaker Volkswagen AG led an investment round into Antioch-based
NanoMuscle, Inc., which makes micro-motors using shape-memory alloy.
London’s Add Partners led the funding into Cupertino-based Aplaud
Technologies, Inc. that’s building a platform layer for online transactions.
We’re shareholders in both these companies that are building global
businesses.
Other companies with EuroCash include Danger from Orange Ventures
and T-Ventures, Inxight Software from Reed Elsevier Ventures, Allianz
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Deutsche Bank Capital Venture
Partners and Bitfone Corp. from Nokia Venture Partners, 3i, Nexit
Ventures, Orange Ventures and CIR Ventures – all recent European investments.
So if you’re building a glocal company that could use some EuroCash
or EuroCustomers, post your elevator pitch or e-mail me at bundeep@ariadnecapital.com
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