Venture capital firm Balderton Capital has closed a new $400 million fund, which will be used to invest in early-stage European start-ups.
Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, a general partner at Balderton, told CNBC he doesn't think Europe is far from creating a tech firm that can rival Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and Google or online platforms out of China like Alibaba and Tencent.
"I don't think we're far away at all," said Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, a former Uber executive. "I spent 10 years in the Valley prior to joining Balderton. For me, there's this shift that's happened that means we're not lagging behind now." He did however add that Europe is home to tech companies with much lower valuations than their U.S. and European peers, but said this was due to "considerably lower" hiring and housing costs. The venture capitalist suggested that interest from American investors in Europe's private tech sectors gave Balderton more impetus to launch a new fund.
"We're actually seeing a lot of U.S. funds doing investments in Europe as well, because the tech talent is on par with what we're seeing in the U.S.," he said. "But the valuations are lower here. So there is an opportunity in the immediate future right now that is attractive."Fjeldsoe-Nielsen referred to Revolut, a U.K. financial technology firm Balderton invested in, as an example of a company vying to compete with U.S. and Chinese behemoths.
seeking a $1.5 billion financing round comprised of both equity and convertible debt that could value it at up to $10 billion. The company has declined to comment.in the U.S. The recent shelving of WeWork's IPO and SoftBank's deal to rescue the office rental start-up has added to concerns over such lossmaking businesses.
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