Amadeus closes £10m seed fund

Amadeus Capital Partners, a European technology venture capital firm, has closed its £10 million Amadeus and Angels Seed Fund, a co-investment fund for use alongside Amadeus’s institutional funds.

The fund effectively doubles the capital at Amadeus’s disposal for seed deals to £20 million.

The UK Government has invested £6.5 million through its Enterprise Capital Fund and Archangel Informal Investments and over 50 private investors from across the UK have committed £3.5 million to the fund. 

Amadeus was awarded Enterprise Capital funding in the first tranche of awards in May this year and completed all detailed negotiations in September.  The remaining £3.5 million was fully subscribed within a month.

Laurence John, chief executive of the 2001 £3 million Amadeus Mobile Seed Fund, will fund up to ten UK technology companies with the potential to become the type of company to attract Series A finance from Amadeus’ main funds. They invest in Series A through to later stage technology businesses. 

John said: “Seed is just a good deal cut early. The price is different and you get to help set the company’s DNA. It takes different skills; often there is no product, no revenues and no metrics to measure the company.”

He said it took judgement to know which teams to back and just as importantly when to stop funding. He said Amadeus would not necessarily be the lead investor in subsequent funding for successful seed deals.

Each investment will be supported with mentoring and follow on finance. The fund has already made its first investment in XMOS, a Bristol-based fabless semiconductor company.

In 2001, Amadeus raised £3 million for its Amadeus Mobile Seed Fund to finance the development to Series A stage of technologies with particularly strong potential for commercial success. 

The Fund’s two investments, Nujira and Enigmatec, have both gone on to raise substantial rounds from other leading venture investors, together with Amadeus’ main funds.