European VC firm Lakestar launches new $400M fund for local and U.S. startups

Europe’s Lakestar has announced a fresh €350 million ($400 million) fund, as the Guernsey-based venture capital (VC) firm looks to plow more cash into European and U.S. startups.

Founded and chaired by European VC Klaus Hommels, who was an early investor in Skype, Spotify, Facebook, and other well-known tech companies, Lakestar II is a follow-up to the €135 million ($154 million) fund launched in 2013, which is still active.

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The new fund will be used to invest in “all stages,” though it will particularly focus on early-stage and growth-stage investments across a “wide range of sectors.” And given the firm’s focus on the U.S. and Europe, it says it aims to “embrace” connections between the two regions — in other words, it wants to help foster relationships between complementary companies in its portfolio.

“The European technology market is continuing to boom — we’re seeing high-quality investment opportunities in tech, in a venture capital ecosystem that has materially improved and is increasingly producing market-leading companies on a global scale,” said Hommels. “We were very pleased to have received interest in Lakestar II from many prominent investors – in fact, the fund was significantly oversubscribed. However, €350 million is the right size to give our portfolio companies the appropriate level of personal attention and support from our partners, and to help these businesses grow.”

There has been a flurry of fresh VC funds in Europe over the past year or so. Back in July, cloud computing startups got a major boost thanks to a new $120 million Notion Capital fund, while Google Ventures launched a European branch last year promising $100 million in capital to local startups.

Elsewhere, Balderton Capital revealed a new $300 million fund for European firms, Mosaic Ventures lifted the lid on a fresh $140 million fund, Index Ventures announced $460 million for early-stage startups, and 83North confirmed that $200 million was on the table.

Though Lakestar is officially registered in Guernsey, a small British island in the English Channel, the firm has offices in key hubs across Europe, including Berlin and Zurich.