Bloc Ventures attracts over €23.9 million to fund early stage deeptech startups in Europe #StartUps - The Entrepreneurial Way with A.I.

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Monday, January 27, 2020

Bloc Ventures attracts over €23.9 million to fund early stage deeptech startups in Europe #StartUps

London-based Bloc Ventures, the VC focused on early stage European deeptech,  today announces it has raised over €23.9 million in equity funding from UK industry leaders.

The latest funding round was led by IPGL Limited and supported by a number of  industry leaders including Warren East, Christopher Miller, Gavyn Davies, Stuart Roden, and Stephen Catlin, who also serves as a non-executive director on the Bloc Board. As part of the round, Samantha Wren, CEO of IPGL, also joins  as a non-executive director.

Bloc was founded in 2013 by  CEO  Bruce Beckloff,  CTO  David Leftley,  technology  industry veterans from ARM and Vodafone respectively, and Chairman Paul Roy,  to fill the gap  in Europe  for expert led  funding  of  early stage deep technology companies. Andrew Griffin, former managing director of European technology equity research for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, joined as CFO in early 2019.

The team  has already built a portfolio of nine companies and will use the new funds for new portfolio additions and follow-on investments in line with Bloc’s strategy to create companies of global scale with  enduring  value in the European deeptech market. Sectors in which Bloc has invested include  high performance computing,  wireless communications, networking infrastructure, security, and the Internet of Things.

Commenting on this announcement, Paul Roy, Chairman of Bloc said, “We are very pleased to  have reached this  significant  milestone and to welcome further notable new shareholders to Bloc, and Sam Wren to the Board. Sam  brings considerable expertise and a full understanding of the perspectives of the professional investor to the table. Existing and new investors have supported Bloc in this funding round, and we are excited by the opportunity to accelerate the growth and success of  our current portfolio and continue our disciplined approach to investing in new   companies in the deep technology space.”

Bruce Beckloff,  Co-Founder and CEO  added: “Our approach is to  invest in companies in the deep technology sector that provide the picks and shovels  for the digital world. With Bloc’s hands on approach and complementary mix of  experience and  expertise, we are  uniquely  placed  to identify and invest in the next generation of technology companies, whilst de-risking the journey  for  our shareholders by actively helping our companies optimise and scale.  It is a significant endorsement of our strategy to have such notable industry players backing Bloc. We look forward to continuing our journey to build a global brand for investing in deep technology in Europe.”



via https://www.AiUpNow.com/ by contact@bcurdy.com, Khareem Sudlow