Skype Foundations
The sale of Skype to eBay in 2005 was a watershed moment for the region’s tech sector. After the sale, Zennstrom turned to funding other promising European startups, helping foster a venture capital community that had largely been absent in the region. At Atomico, he’s brought in former executives from Uber Technologies Inc., Google, Facebook Inc., Supercell and elsewhere to help scout and build companies to fund.
With the latest fund, Zennstrom said his biggest challenge was convincing investors to join who hadn’t previously put money into venture capital. While a common investment in the U.S. for endowments, pension funds and wealthy families, it’s less established in Europe. Zennstrom said that’s beginning to change as technology’s impact on the global economy becomes more pronounced, affecting sectors from transportation, to finance, to oil and gas.
Atomico says a third of the 60 investors in its latest fund had never previously invested in European venture capital. Maurizio Arrigo, head of private equity at the Swiss asset management firm Pictet that invested $40 million in Atomico, said Europe’s tech sector is mature enough to justify the risk of investing in venture capital. "The ecosystem has matured a lot and has produced a number of successes," Arrigo said. "It’s higher risk and higher return, but with a bumpy ride."
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.