We’re finally into the full swing of summer and we’re delighted to deliver another newsletter filled with stories of success from across our portfolio.
The easing of restrictions and the ongoing festival of sport has certainly provided a boost for Europe, and we’re seeing a positive reflection in the return of optimism across a number of markets as a result.
In this month’s newsletter, we’re excited to share the details of a $3 billion valuation for our portfolio company, Wefox, as well as a number of other investments in some very exciting businesses – and an interview with Butternut Box’s co-founder, Kevin Glynn.
If you’d like to start a conversation, then simply hit reply or email me at ld@claret-capital.com. And make sure to follow us on LinkedIn, where we share regular portfolio news and insights.
European insurtech startup Wefox grabs $650 million at $3 billion valuation
German-based digital insurer, Wefox, focused on personal insurance products, has raised a $650 million Series C funding earlier this month, making it the largest Series C for an Insurtech globally.
Following this funding round, the company has reached a post-money valuation of $3 billion. Read more…
Avi Medical raises €28.5 million in Series A financing
Munich-based digital healthcare startup Avi Medical has recently raised €28.5 million in a Series A round.
Avi Medical will use the funding to further develop the software aspect of the business as well as accelerate growth plans throughout Germany. To date, the firm has raised €38.5 million. Read more…
European sports and wellness platform Urban Sports Club raises €80 million
Claret is delighted to have backed the European sports and wellness platform, Urban Sports Club, which has successfully raised €80 million in growth financing. The new capital will be invested in strategic development of the platform.
We look forward to supporting co-founders and co-CEOs Moritz Kreppel and Benjamin Roth (pictured above) and the entire Urban Sports Club team with efforts to drive the growth and development of the business across Europe. Read more…
Claret is proud to have partnered with Cisiv, a market-leading platform for collecting and generating real-world data within late-phase medical research.
We’re excited to support CEO and co-founder, Dominic Farmer, and the entire team at Cisiv, in capitalizing on the growing importance of decentralised studies in generating patient and physician evidence.
We’re excited to welcome Brydge Technologies into the Claret portfolio.
As a leading provider of high-tech tablet keyboards and office essentials for the modern workplace, our team was enthused by it’s innovative products and the company’s outstanding leadership group including co-CEOs Toby Mander-Jones and Nick Smith – as well as Brydge’s wider team.
Claret is thrilled to welcome Elder, the UK’s leading live-in care specialist, to its portfolio of growth businesses.
We look forward to supporting CEO and co-founder, Pete Dowds (pictured above), and the team at a time when the need for an alternative to residential care is greater than ever following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Claret Capital Partners was delighted to have the opportunity to back Butternut Box in September 2020, having monitored its strong growth and assessed its long term potential for success.
Lyall has been a part of the Claret team for six years, during which time he has been involved in over 40 investment transactions.
How have you observed the transformation of venture debt applications in Europe over the past six years?
I think one of the important changes I have seen broadly across the eco-system is a real acceptance of the growth debt product as a viable funding option to high growth businesses.
When I started out, we spent a lot more time trying to educate entrepreneurs and shareholders about the relative value of debt as a tool to help grow their companies, but more recently, we have seen a much more nuanced understanding of how layering debt into the funding of a business can generate strong results all-around.
What is unique about the approach Claret takes when looking to invest in new ventures?
The variety of companies that we look at and work with is one of the real advantages of working in the debt space, as we are relatively transactional and very much sector agnostic. I get to see something new every day which is fantastic; it means you learn something new every day!
Right now we are seeing a lot of M&A activity – which is really interesting and has been a great opportunity for us as a team to use our product out of the “typical” organic growth applications that debt is used for.
How are you enjoying the summer of sport?
As a Kiwi transplanted in the UK, the rivalry between the England and New Zealand rugby teams always delivers some friction for me, or any other team to be quite honest. But as far as football goes, it seems that getting one up over Germany would mean that… football could be coming home?