Draper Esprit benefits from ‘strong business momentum’

Dublin-listed venture capital firm Draper Esprit said on Monday that it is experiencing "strong business momentum", as it looks to accelerate its investment strategy.

In an investment update, the company, which invests in and develops high growth digital technology businesses, said that it is delivering on its stated objective to deploy further capital by leading rounds in high growth technology investments at Series B onwards.

The firm has made 11 investments, totalling £56 million (€62 million), since its half year results in September 2020, including a $14 million investment in a Series E funding round in Graphcore, maker of the intelligence processing unit; and a $14 million investment into new portfolio company CoachHub, a digital coaching platform.

Martin Davis, chief executive of Draper Esprit, said the firm has been looking to accelerate its investment strategy.

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“Benefitting from additional capital, our ability to lead investment rounds and back Europe’s best high growth investment opportunities has been reinforced,” he said, noting that activity in recent months clearly supports the execution of this strategy.

Looking ahead, Mr Davis said that the firm continues to see “significant opportunity in both follow on and new investments across our four target sectors.”