Leuven, Belgium: 30 April 2021 – Capricorn Partners, the Leuven-based independent manager of venture capital and equity funds, announces the intermediate closing of its Capricorn Fusion China Fund (“CFCF”) securing more than € 30 million of commitments.

The Capricorn Fusion China Fund is the newest investment fund being managed by Capricorn Partners. Capricorn Partners took over the management of this fund from Fusion Partners on 1 October 2020.

The fund focuses on investments in companies which establish a link between the European and Chinese markets. The fund is looking for, on the one hand, innovative European companies which see a clear role for the Chinese market in their development (in sourcing, supply, production or commercialization). On the other hand, the fund will also invest in Chinese companies who want to enter the European market.

The CFCF fund can invest over the financing continuum — from scale-up to unlisted growth companies — and now has two participations:

• XenomatiX, a Belgian technology company which develops Lidars (a technology that uses laser pulses to determine the distance to objects) for the mobility market and who wants to be a key player in the race for autonomous vehicles, where the Chinese market offers enormous potential;
• Xi’an Thiebaut, a Belgian-Chinese joint venture which, as supplier for the Chinese pharma and cosmetics industry, makes and commercializes aluminium tubes in northern China (Xi’an).

The interim closing increases the fund’s capital from € 12,925,000 to € 30,300,000. This is a key step on the way to the fund’s objective of raising € 75 million before the end of 2021. The Capricorn Fusion China Fund is strengthening its capital with the entry of Quest for Growth and the Federal Participation and Investment Company (FPIM), which will also have a seat on the Board of Directors, as well as with the entry of several private investors.

Paul Van Eynde, Senior Investment Manager at Capricorn Partners, said: “We are grateful for the intermediate closing of the fund as it shows confidence in our rather unique investment strategy, and as the increased size of the fund allows us to participate in more sizeable investment opportunities on the bridge between Europe and China”.

Steven Levecke, Senior Investment Manager at Capricorn Partners, added: “We are very happy with the first investments in (China-based) Xi’An Thiebaut and (Belgium-based) XenomatiX, and are confident that the growth of the fund, alongside our expanding network, will help us to execute some of the other promising investment opportunities that we are currently analyzing”.

Cathay Innovation takes minority stake in Seaya Ventures to fuel Co-Investments and startup growth across Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America, giving startups greater access to global funding, knowledge and potential partners.
Today, global venture capital firm Cathay Innovation announced a strategic partnership with Seaya Ventures. By combining Cathay’s global ecosystem of investors, startups and Fortune 500 corporations with Seaya’s unmatched expertise in Southern Europe and Latin America, the partnership creates a stronger and more expansive investment platform that grants more startups access to worldwide resources and the capital they need to scale.

The partnership comes after years of collaboration through six co-investments including leading Spanish companies such as Glovo, Savana, Housfy, Coverfy and Wallbox as well as Paris-based Alma. With a mutual commitment to backing technology companies that bring a positive impact, the collaboration creates natural synergies: Seaya bridges the early-stage pre-Series A and B investment gap in Southern Europe while Cathay Innovation specializes in accelerating early-growth startups on a full global scale. As part of the agreement, Cathay Innovation will take a minority stake in Seaya’s management company.

International interest in the European technology ecosystem is rapidly rising from investors and startups alike. According to Pitchbook, 2020 was a record year for the European technology ecosystem which drew €43 billion in venture capital deal value with two-thirds of the total coming from cross-border investment. By infusing Seaya Venture’s regional expertise and network into Cathay’s global ecosystem, the goal is to further coalesce the investment landscape and empower entrepreneurs with greater access to global funding, knowledge and potential partners to fuel startup growth. In addition, the partnership will enable Seaya Ventures to broaden its investment focus beyond Southern Europe to become a reference early-stage European investor.

Based in Madrid, Seaya Ventures has invested in some of the most prominent startups emerging from Southern Europe and Latin America, including Spain’s first two unicorns: ridesharing company Cabify and on-demand delivery app Glovo (Cathay Innovation also co-led its 2017 Series B). On the other hand, Cathay has backed breakout companies across the world from US digital bank Chime to France’s crypto leader Ledger and China’s e-commerce giant Pinduoduo. Importantly, the firm counts some of the world’s largest corporations as investors and strategic partners in its fund, including Bpifrance, BNP Cardif, Groupe ADP, Groupe SEB, Michelin, Valeo, Sanofi, Accor, L’Oreal, BioMerieux, CMA-CGM, Kering, Unilever and Pernod Ricard.

Beatriz Gonzalez, Founder and Managing Partner, Seaya Ventures: “At Seaya Ventures, we are thrilled to partner with Cathay Innovation on our joint mission to support and scale emerging startups to market leaders and have long been aligned both culturally and philosophically — demonstrated by our strong co-investment track record. Spain’s startup landscape, along with many other Spanish speaking countries, is becoming increasingly more global. As we’ve seen within our portfolio, such as Glovo and Wallbox, the region is drawing more capital from cross-border investments as companies are rapidly expanding to international markets. With its global reach and unique corporate ecosystem across sectors, our partnership with Cathay will enable greater opportunity for startups to access global funding and potential partners, expand internationally and become European leaders.”

Mingpo Cai, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Cathay Capital: “Seaya Ventures has played a critical role in the rising startup and technology landscape in Spain and across many Spanish speaking countries. We are extremely fortunate to count Beatriz and the entire team as trusted and knowledgeable partners that not only represents another bridge across continents, cultures and knowledge from Europe to China, the US, Africa, Latin America and beyond, but breaks the imaginary borders separating investment firms. At Cathay Capital, we believe that all people driving innovation forward – whether that’s entrepreneurs, investors or leading corporate executives – need to learn and work together to build the extraordinary companies that will lead the transformation towards a more digital, sustainable and equitable world.”

Jacky Abitbol, Managing Partner, Cathay Innovation: “With the globalization of technology, venture capital has expanded across the world yet is still largely siloed by region, limiting the support and access to knowledge firms can provide startups. This is precisely why we built our global platform, to help entrepreneurs everywhere grow and lead, whether that be in their home markets or on the global stage. After many years of working with the talented Seaya team, we’re honored to formalize our partnership that will further strengthen our platform throughout Southern Europe and Latin America, boost collaboration across the landscape and—above all else—bring greater value to the mission-driven entrepreneurs looking to make a greater impact on global communities.”

Cathay Innovation

Cathay Innovation is a global venture capital partnership, created in affiliation with Cathay Capital, investing in startups at the center of digital revolution across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Its global platform unifies technology investment across continents, investors, entrepreneurs and leading corporations to accelerate startup growth with access to new markets, invaluable industry knowledge and introductions to potential partners from the start. As a multistage fund with over $1.5 billion assets under management and offices across San Francisco, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, Cathay Innovation partners with visionary entrepreneurs and startups positively impacting the world through technology. To learn more, please visit www.cathayinnovation.com or follow us on Twitter @Cathayinnov.

About Seaya Ventures

Seaya Ventures is a leading European & Latin-American Venture Capital firm based in Madrid, Spain, investing in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building global technology companies. Since raising its first fund in 2013, Seaya manages an aggregated volume of €300M across three early-stage funds. Seaya Ventures accelerates startup growth by working with the founders to enhance their strategic vision, putting at their disposal its global platform, its strong network of founders, investors and corporates, as well as Seaya’s experience in scaling leading companies such as Glovo, Cabify, Wallbox, Clarity, Clicars and Savana. For more information, please visit www.seayaventures.com.

EQT AB is proud to announce its membership with FCLTGlobal, a non-profit organization with the mission of rebalancing capital markets to support a long-term, sustainable economy, and stimulating long-term behavior across the investment value chain. Members include more than 60 leading asset owners, asset managers and corporations from around the world. It is a rapidly growing initiative, as moving financial markets to the longer-term perspective is one of the most important systematic changes needed to provide companies with space to make the right investment decisions. Becoming a member of FCTLGlobal aligns perfectly with EQT’s purpose of future-proofing companies and making a positive impact with everything we do. It is also well in line with EQT’s thematic approach of investing with the future in mind, as well as the evaluation of a long-hold strategy as a natural extension of the current platform.

FCLTGlobal conducts research and develops tools to drive long-term value, with the guiding principle that working toward short-term financial targets comes at the expense of long-term value creation. Despite the fact that data shows that long-term-oriented investors deliver superior performance and long-term-oriented companies outperform in terms of revenue, earnings, and job creation, the focus in global investing remains largely skewed towards short-term performance.

Christian Sinding, CEO and Managing Partner at EQT AB, said, “The private markets industry has a huge opportunity to change this mindset, to think longer-term and to strive to simultaneously enhance financial returns and improve societies. And our industry has the power to make a real difference with a governance model and active ownership approach that get things done. We are deeply impressed by FCTLGlobal’s mission and research-based approach and are humbled by the opportunity to team up with the organization and all the other members in order to take an even more active role in the movement of tackling short-termism and promoting sustainable growth.”

Sarah Keohane Williamson, Chief Executive Officer, FCLTGlobal, said, “To FCLTGlobal, it is important that our members lead by example, and EQT is showing a strong commitment to integrate sustainability and long-term perspectives into their entire value creation process. We look forward to welcoming EQT and to collaborating on the various aspects of our upcoming research agenda.”

Contact:
Nina Nornholm, Head of Communications, +46 708 550 356
EQT Press office: press@eqtpartners.com

About EQT 
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with close to three decades of consistent investment performance across multiple geographies, sectors, and strategies. EQT has raised more than EUR 84 billion since inception and had as of December 31, 2020 more than EUR 52 billion in assets under management across 17 active funds within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets.

With its roots in the Wallenberg family’s entrepreneurial mindset and philosophy of long-term ownership, EQT is guided by a set of strong values and a distinct corporate culture. EQT manages and advises funds and vehicles that invest across the world with the mission to future-proof companies, generate attractive returns and make a positive impact with everything EQT does.

The EQT AB Group comprises EQT AB (publ) and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, which include general partners and fund managers of EQT funds as well as entities advising EQT funds. EQT has offices in 17 countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America with more than 700 employees.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
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About FCLTGlobal 
FCLTGlobal’s mission is to rebalance capital markets to support a long-term, sustainable economy. We are a non-profit organization supported by leading companies and investors worldwide that develops research and practical tools to drive long-term value creation for companies, savers, and communities. Please visit www.fcltglobal.org for more information.