A London-listed venture capital firm that enjoyed a windfall from last month’s flotation of Trustpilot has stepped up the pace of its investments amid a boom in technology companies caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Draper Esprit invested £128 million of its money during the 12 months to the end of March, of which £96 million was deployed in the past six months, the group said yesterday.
It marks an increase on the £90 million Draper Esprit invested in the previous year and comes as the shift online spurred by the Covid crisis fuels growth among tech businesses — Draper Esprit’s focus. Martin Davis, chief executive, said the pandemic was throwing up more investment opportunities because it had “accelerated the uptake of technology, accelerated digitisation”.
The group also invested £34 million raised from retail investors over the past 12 months, compared with £38 million the previous year.
London-based Esprit Capital was founded in 2006 and changed its name after joining a network set up by Tim Draper, the Silicon Valley investor, nine years later. It was an early backer of Trustpilot, investing £29.7 million in the Danish consumer reviews website — a bet that paid off when it raised £78.3 million by selling some of its shares in the London listing of the business last month. It owns a 7.9 per cent stake in the company. Davis said Trustpilot had been “a big payday for us”.
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The venture capital firm has also invested in Cazoo, the British online used car retailer listing in New York in a $7 billion deal, in Riverlane, a quantum computing software group, and in geolocation company Focalpoint during the past year.
Draper Esprit shares rose 15p to 830p.
