B2B software investor Frontline Ventures has unveiled two new funds totalling around £160 million.
Frontline Growth and Frontline Seed will propel the transatlantic expansion of B2B software companies, fostering innovation in both North America and Europe.
It backs companies with the potential to be category leaders and eventually IPO.
Frontline Ventures launched to bring the US venture mindset to Europe, and over the past decade has expanded its presence in both regions to help B2B software companies capture the transatlantic market.
The Seed fund has made over 80 investments in European startups over the past decade, of which more than 70% have already graduated to Series A funding and 60% expanded to the US market.
Led by partners Will Prendergast, Zoe Chambers and William McQuillan , Frontline’s third European fund will focus on backing companies at the pre-seed and seed stages. Notable Seed portfolio companies include Workvivo, Pointy and Qualio, as well as Finbourne, Signal AI, Cloudsmith and Overwatch – which was acquired by Benchling – in the UK.
“The US and Europe account for the lion’s share of global software spend and global venture capital dollars. Frontline Seed’s mission over the past decade has been to help ambitious founders capture this critical transatlantic market and set them on the path to IPO,” said partner Prendergast.
“This has led us to become an integral partner for the highest-potential B2B software businesses in Europe, who we support through our network on everything from fundraising to their US go-to market.
“Our success is demonstrated by the high proportion of our portfolio companies that have graduated to Series A and expanded into the US market – with more yet to come.”
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The Growth Fund, established five years ago, has backed more than a dozen North American companies with ambitions to expand into the European market. Under the leadership of Brennan O’Donnell and Stephen McIntyre, it targets companies through Series B to Series D.
Growth-stage portfolio companies include notable names such as MosaicML, Lattice, Vanta, Attentive and Navan, and the fund is anticipating its first IPO within the next year.
“Though it is a traditionally overlooked market by U.S. entrepreneurs, Europe accounts for over 30% of the global revenues of top performing B2B software companies at IPO,” said partner O’Donnell.
“Our goal at Frontline is to bridge the gap between the U.S. and European markets, providing a platform for B2B software companies to become global category leaders.”
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