TIDMGROW

RNS Number : 8563F

Draper Esprit PLC

26 February 2018

Strictly embargoed until: 07.00 a.m. on 26 February 2018

Draper Esprit plc

("Draper Esprit" or the "Company")

DRAPER ESPRIT ANNOUNCES NEW COMMITMENTS OF GBP12 MILLION

IN FIVE LEADING EUROPEAN SEED FUNDS

Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in high growth digital technology businesses today announces two new investments in Europe's top seed funds: Join Capital in Berlin (http://www.join.capital/) and Icebreaker in Finland (https://icebreaker.vc/). Commitments have also been made to three other funds based in London, Cambridge and Ireland. The total commitment is GBP12 million across all five funds.

These investments are a continuation of the Company's Fund of Funds strategy to invest GBP75 million over a five-year period in Europe's best seed funds, as announced in October 2017. Alongside previous investments in Seedcamp, Episode1 Ventures, Crowdcube and Seedrs, these investments enable Draper investors to gain access to some of Europe's highest quality seed funds.

Furthermore, it complements the Company's core strategy to invest approximately GBP100 million a year in technology businesses in series A, B and C+ rounds across the Group's funds and gives the management team further access to high quality deal flow from across Europe.

Commenting on the announcement Simon Cook, Chief Executive said:

"In October last year we announced our intention to invest in seed funds to give investors access to early stage technology businesses through Europe's top seed funding platforms. This gives them exposure to a very important asset class on a pooled portfolio approach; giving a degree of risk mitigation, with added liquidity and without them having to sift through and pick individual seed funds themselves. It also gives shareholders and investors an opportunity to support European tech from British shores, helping to ensure the UK continues to have a leading role in European venture."

*ends*

For further information, please contact:

 
Draper Esprit plc 
 Simon Cook (Chief Executive Officer) 
 Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer)   +44 (0)20 7931 8800 
Numis Securities 
 Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker 
 Alex Ham 
 Richard Thomas 
 Jamie Loughborough 
 Harry Trueman                             +44 (0)20 7260 1000 
Goodbody Stockbrokers 
 ESM Adviser & Joint Broker 
 Don Harrington 
 Linda Hickey 
 Charlotte Craigie 
 Richard Tunney                             +353 1 667 0420 
Belvedere Communications (PR) 
 John West 
 Kim van Beeck                             +44 (0)20 3567 0510

About Draper Esprit

Draper Esprit is one of the most active venture capital firms in Europe, developing and investing in disruptive, high growth technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable of building the global businesses of the future. We fuel their growth with long- term capital, access to international networks and decades of experience building businesses. Currently Draper Esprit is a shareholder in a diverse portfolio of companies including Trustpilot, Graze, Perkbox, PushDoctor and Graphcore.

Visit www.draperesprit.com

About Join Capital and Ice Breaker

Ice Breaker is the most active VC Fund in Finland investing mainly in Finnish startups. Join Capital, based in Berlin, invests in enterprise and industrial tech startups at the post seed stage.

Visit http://www.join.capital/contact/ and https://icebreaker.vc/

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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February 26, 2018 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)

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