Creator Fund, a VC firm backing startups emerging from academic labs, has closed its latest fund slightly above target at $56 million, thanks in part to an LP commitment from KfW Capital, the investment arm of German state-owned development bank KfW.
The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, the Danish development bank, Equation Capital, and Basecamp were already backers at the first close in October last year, when the fund launched with $41 million.
JIMCO and Allocator One are also limited partners, of which the fund now counts a total of 71 from 21 countries. KfW Capital is the fund’s largest LP.
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Creator Fund previously raised $500,000 from one limited partner to back startups in Europe, according to Sifted.
However, its main vehicles — a $5 million fund in 2021 and a $20 million fund in 2022 — both made use of the UK’s tax relief schemes EIS and SEIS, which restricted where deals could be struck.
Creator Fund was founded in 2019 by chief executive officer Jamie Macfarlane, who had previously led the Dorm Room Fund at Stanford University.
The firm invests in deep tech, life sciences, and AI startups that emerge out of university research. One of the requirements for investment is that at least one founder is a professor, a PhD researcher, a student, or a recent graduate.
It sources opportunities by mapping where research, patents, and startups are being developed, and recruits students on the ground.
These students are put through a 16-part training programme, teaching them how to start a business, leverage IP, and how venture capital works. Three of the latest fund’s 11 investments thus far were started by such former scouts.
Two portfolio companies from the fund are said to have surpassed $100 million in total funding within the last six months.
“By leveraging Creator’s European academic network to access future founders at leading universities, the team addresses a key element of the innovation ecosystem: translating academic progress into high-growth startups.
Christian Röhle, co-head of investment management, KfW Capital
The firm returned its first fund when Epic Games acquired Loci, a developer of AI technology for 3D content understanding and tagging, in April last year.
Creator Fund had invested to build Loci, based on research by Cambridge student Jack Davis, in 2021, after finding Davis’ thesis online.
