Runa Capital
Runa Capital is an international venture capital firm headquartered in Luxembourg[3] that invests in deep tech (AI, machine learning, middleware, open source, etc), cloud business software, fintech, edutech and digital health startups in early stages.[4] From 2010 through 2022 Runa Capital raised 3 funds and invested in over 100 companies in more than 14 countries of Europe and North America, including Nginx, MariaDB, Zopa, Brainly, drchrono, Smava, and Mambu.[5][6]
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Type | Limited partnership |
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Industry | Venture Capital |
Founded | 2010 |
Founders |
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Headquarters | |
Number of locations | Luxembourg, London, Berlin, San Francisco, Palo Alto (2022) |
Area served | Europe, North America |
Key people |
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AUM | $427m (June 2022)[1][2] |
Website | runacap |
History
![](../I/Runa_Capital_Partners_2019.jpg.webp)
Runa Capital was founded by technological entrepreneurs Serg Bell and Ilya Zubarev (founders of Acronis and Parallels), and their MIPT university friend Dmitry Chikhachev.[7] The idea of the venture firm took shape in 2009 and was formally incorporated in 2010.[8] The partners contributed their own money into the first fund and raised capital from friends and other international investors including Achim Weiss and Andreas Gauger, founders of German hosting provider 1&1, and Edward Nicholson, former CEO of Brunswick-UBS.[9][5]
In 2011, Andre Bliznyuk joined Runa Capital as a General partner.[10][11][12] In 2022, the firm promoted its principials Konstantin Vinogradov and Michael Fanfant to general partners focusing on Europe and the U.S., respectively.[3] As of June 2022, the firm had over 427 million dollars under management in 3 funds.[1][2]
Funds
- Runa Capital I, firm's first namesake fund was launched in 2010, reached its final size of $135 million by 2012[13] and was focused on investments from seed to Series B stage.[14] The initial idea was to fund globally oriented Eastern European startups in the fields of cloud computing, machine learning, virtualization, mobile and internet apps, but later the partners expanded their investment area to Europe and USA.[15][12]
- Runa Capital II was launched in 2014 and reached $135 million by 2016 with large commitments from the first fund's backers.[15] The second fund aimed at Series A and B rounds.[14][16] The firm's new office was opened in California in 2015.[17]
- Runa Capital III exceeded the target sum of $135 and reached $157 million in May 2020. The third fund followed the focus on deep tech with additional interest towards quantum computing startups.[15][5][1]
- Runa Capital Opportunity Fund I was launched in May 2022 and raised $69 million by Autumn 2022.[18]
Investments
Runa Capital invests from $1 million to $10 million, largely in Series A rounds. From 2010 through 2022 it invested in over 100 companies, equally split between North America and Europe:[5][6]
Company | Description | HQ location | Invested | Acquired | Acquirer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nginx[19] | Open-source web server | San Francisco[20] | 2011 | 2019 | F5[21] |
Mambu[22] | SaaS banking platform | Berlin | 2012[23] | — | — |
Brainly[24] | Social learning network | Krakow | 2014 | — | — |
Anyroad[25][26] | Experience relationship management platform | San Francisco, CA | 2021 | — | — |
Lendio[27] | Loan marketplace for SME | Lehi, UT | 2013 | — | — |
Pasqal[28] | Quantum computer developer | Palaiseau | 2021 | — | — |
Smava[29] | Consumer loan portal | Berlin[30] | 2018 | — | — |
drchrono[31] | Electronic health record platform | Mountain View, CA[32] | 2017 | — | — |
Zopa[33] | Peer-to-peer lending | London | 2013 | — | — |
MariaDB[34] | Relational database management system | Espoo; Redwood City, CA[35] | 2015 | — | — |
Acumatica | Cloud ERP | Bellevue, WA | 2013 | 2019 | EQT Partners[36] |
Zype[37] | Video content management platform | New York | 2017 | — | — |
Reelgood[38] | San Francisco | Streaming aggregator | 2019 | — | — |
Zipdrug[39] | Personalized pharmacy care | New York, NY | 2019 | 2020 | IngenioRx[40] |
Ecwid[41] | SaaS-based e-commerce platform | Encinitas, CA | 2011 | 2020 | Morgan Stanley, PeakSpan Capital[42] |
Oxygen[43] | Digital bank | San Francisco, CA | 2019 | — | — |
Procurify[44] | Cloud-based procurement software | Vancouver | 2016 | — | — |
StopTheHacker | Anti-malware | Burlingame, CA | 2012 | 2014 | CloudFlare[45] |
OfficeRnD[46] | Flex space operating platform | Sofia | 2021 | — | — |
Capptain[47] | Mobile analytics | Paris | 2012 | 2014 | Microsoft[48] |
bunny.net | Cloud Storage | Ljubljana, Slovenia | 2022 | — | — |
Affiliated funds
Quantum Wave (QWave) headquartered in Boston is a $30 million early-stage fund focused on companies working in the field of quantum technology.[49] Serg Bell is QWave's venture partner.[50] According to TechCrunch, QWave effectively served as a "materials science" arm for Runa Capital. Its notable investments include Swiss quantum cryptography startup ID Quantique that was acquired by SK Telecom in 2018.[5][51]
References
- Mike Butcher (May 6, 2020). "Runa Capital closes Fund III at $157M, with an added focus on quantum computing". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Robi Wauters (May 17, 2016). "Runa Capital raises $135 million for its second fund". Tech.eu. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Mike Butcher (September 13, 2022). "Runa Capital kicks off new fund as it joins the VC 'Scramble for Europe' by moving to Luxembourg". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- "Meet Europe's most active SaaS investors". GrowthList. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Mike Butcher (July 11, 2019). "Runa Capital closes $70M for its third fund aimed at early-stage 'deep tech'". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Our Investments". Runa Capital. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Deni Connor (April 24, 2008). "Acronis rolls out data protection software for SMBs". Network World. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Joji Thomas Philipp (April 17, 2015). "Dmitry Chikhachev. The need for a home run in portfolio". LiveMint. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Steve O'Hear (February 3, 2011). "Runa Capital ups it fund to $50m for early-stage Russian startups". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Andre Bliznyuk". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Kia Kokalitcheva (July 3, 2014). "Russian VC firm Runa Capital has a new fund, and it's refocusing on European tech". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Steve O'Hear (August 2, 2010). "Runa Capital's $30m fund for Russian startups aims to build bridges with Europe and U.S." TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Runa Capital fund size increased to US$ 135 million". the Runet. June 5, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Adrien Henni (May 18, 2016). "Runa Capital raises $135-million second fund". East-West Digital News. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Runa Capital raises $70 million to invest in 'deep-tech' startups". East-West Digital News. July 16, 2019. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Moscow-based Runa Capital to invest up to $200 million in European startups". East-West Digital News. June 4, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Lizette Chapman (July 15, 2015). "Russia's Runa Capital Opens San Francisco Office". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Aaron Grunwald (September 14, 2022). "Runa Capital moves global HQ from California to Luxembourg". Delano. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
- "Top ranking Russian web server Nginx raises $3 million from Russian and international funds". East-West Digital News. October 13, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Nginx Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Joseph Tsidulko (March 11, 2019). "F5 Networks Will Buy NGINX For $670 Million". CRN. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Berlin-Based SaaS Baking Platform Mambu Raises €30 Million". Startup TV. February 21, 2019. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Mambu to get €1.4M from Point Nine Capital, Runa Capital and Kizoo". Nordic9. December 10, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- "Runa Capital invests in global social learning network Brainly". Runa Capital. October 17, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "AnyRoad Raises $10M in Series A-1 Financing". FinSMEs. March 24, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- "AnyRoad Raises $47M in Series B Funding". FinSMEs. February 25, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Rip Empson (August 29, 2013). "With New Funding In Tow, Lendio And Creditera Are Helping Small Businesses Secure Loans And Avoid Bad Credit". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Dan Taylor (June 8, 2021). "Palaiseau-based atomic-level quantum processor builder Pasqal raises €25 million in Series A round". Tech.eu. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Ingrid Lunden (January 1, 2018). "Germany's Smava raises $65M to expand its consumer loan portal". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "smava GmbH". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Sarah Buhr (April 6, 2017). "Drchrono raises $12 million in Series A to take on older EHR platforms like athenahealth". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "drchrono Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Runa бесшумно вошла в Zopa" [Runa Capital invested in Zopa] (in Russian). VC.ru. July 10, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Runa Capital invests €3 million in Finnish open source database solution provider MariaDB Corp". East-West Digital News. February 27, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Philip Howard. "MariaDB". Bloor. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- "Almaz Capital and Runa Capital exit from US cloud ERP Acumatica". East-West Digital News. June 20, 2019. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Jessica Klein (October 16, 2017). "Video Distribution Startup Zype Raises $4.9 Million in Series A". Tubefilter. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Sarah Perez (December 6, 2019). "Reelgood raises $6.75 million for its universal streaming guide". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- "The AlleyWatch NYC Startup Daily Funding Report: 2/19/19". AlleyWatch. February 19, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Paige Minemyer (July 6, 2020). "Anthem's IngenioRx PBM to acquire data-driven pharmacy management company ZipDrug". Fierce Healthcare. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- "Shopping Cart Software Maker Ecwid Raises $1.5M; Expands To US, UK". TechCrunch. December 14, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Ingrid Lundgen (May 21, 2020). "Ecwid raises $42M from Morgan Stanley and PeakSpan". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Callum Burroughs (January 4, 2021). "Check out the pitch deck 1-year-old San Francisco challenger bank Oxygen used to raise $17 million". Business Insider. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Kirk Falconer (November 17, 2016). "Procurify secures $7 mln in Runa Capital-led Series A round". PE Hub Network. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
- Frederic Lardinois (February 24, 2014). "CloudFlare Acquires Anti-Malware Firm StopTheHacker". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Aleksia Petrova (October 27, 2021). "Bulgaria's OfficeRnD raises $10 mln in funding round led by US-based Runa Capital". SeeNews. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Ingrid Lundgen (March 27, 2012). "Russian Money Into French Clouds: App Analytics Platform Capptain Gets $1.5M From Runa Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Ingrid Lunden (May 28, 2014). "Microsoft Buys Mobile App Management Platform Capptain To Beef Up Azure". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Shara Tibken (December 10, 2012). "Quantum computing goes mainstream? New VC fund debuts". Cnet. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Bob Yirka (December 14, 2012). "Venture capital firm – Quantum Wave Fund – looking to invest $100 million in quantum physics". Phys.org. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
- Cho Mu-Huyn (February 26, 2018). "SK Telecom buys half of Swiss quantum-safe crypto firm for $65m". ZDNet. Retrieved September 14, 2019.