London’s Element Ventures, a B2B Fintech-focused VC company, has established a $130 million fund with support from prominent investors.
Launched by experienced financial services professionals Stephen Gibson and Michael McFadgen, and joined by Spencer Lake, who is HSBC’s ex- Vice Chairperson of Global Banking and Markets, Element is also being supported by finance-related limited partnerships and around 30 founders and executives from the industry.
The investors include: Lord Spencer, founder of ICAP/NEX Group; Laurent Useldinger, founder of ULlink; Cris Conde, former CEO of SunGard; Marc Murphy, founder of Fenergo; Hamilton Matthews, former CEO Acuris, Pierre Naude, co-founder of nCino; Neil Eckert, founder of Brit Insurance, Brendan Woods, founder of Autoentry; David Rutter, founder of R3; Christian Nentwich, founder of Duco and Anna Ewing, former Nasdaq CIO. European venture investor Isomer Capital is also participating in the fund.
Element said that it plans to invest in about 15 portfolio firms in key areas such as banking-as-a-service (BaaS), payments, Insurtech platforms, fund management as well as infrastructure.
Element has so far backed B2B Fintech companies in the UK and across European market. These firms include Hepster, the embedded insurance platforms; Billhop, the B2B payment network; Coincover, a crypto recovery service; and Sweden’s Minna, a subscription management service.
Element partner McFadgen remarked:
“B2B Fintech is one of the most exciting opportunities in the tech industry, with incumbents facing huge challenges to digitize and talented entrepreneurs ready to compete. We’ve already backed some incredible businesses and we’re looking forward to discovering the next-generation entrepreneurs that are rising to this challenge.”
Steve Gibson, Partner at Element Ventures, added:
“When we created Element Ventures we believed that a sector-focused, founder-focused venture platform was what Europe’s B2B fintech entrepreneurs needed. This has been validated by both founders and LPs. We’ve been able to build a platform for fintech founders, backed by fintech founders, that will help to scale transformative businesses in the industry.”
Spencer Lake, Partner at Element Ventures, said:
“At Element, we’re connecting founders with the capital and expertise they need to build the financial enterprise technology of tomorrow, giving the entrepreneurs access to this brilliant platform. We understand the journey these companies need to navigate to be successful. There is so much potential for change in this industry and we’re excited to be a part of it.”
