On 3 December 2019, Daniel Greenaway, Head of Mishcon Funds, spoke to delegates at the 2019 Funding Venture conference hosted by PwC and Slush. The event brought together experienced fund investors, family offices and a number of European venture fund managers. In addition to Daniel, participants heard insights on raising funds from a host of experienced LP investors such as Isomer Capital, AXA Venture Partners and the European Investment Fund.
Topics included Breaking into Institutional Investors and Raising funds from family offices, appealing to both emerging and experienced VC fund managers.
Daniel shared some practical considerations for fund managers, in particular at the soft-marketing stage. As well as discussing some typical fund terms, he summarised the types of issues raised by institutional and family office investors, including the need to be transparent about how co-investments will be allocated. He identified some pros and cons of the typical fund jurisdictions for European managers, being Luxembourg, UK and Channel Islands. He explained the main considerations in determining the jurisdiction including the target investor base and the speed with which the fund vehicle can be established prior to a first closing. Fund managers also heard insights from investors on their reasons for rejecting fund decks.
Mishcon Funds is active in the private equity and venture capital space. Clients comprise experienced and emerging managers and include TriSpan, Frog Capital, Seek Ventures and Inspirit Capital.
The firm is grateful to PWC, in particular Head of Raise Programmes Jonathan Hollis, and Slush for hosting an excellent and well-attended event.