Adara Ventures closes 65 million in its third fund to invest in startups

AdaraVentures founders
  • The firm promotes Rocío Pillado to partner, strengthening its senior team
  • Adara III will continue to focus on Deep Tech B2B companies, an investment strategy that has become the hallmark of the firm

Adara Ventures, an established European Venture Capital (VC) firm based in Luxembourg, has announced that it has completed the first closing of its third fund (Adara Ventures III) with commitments in excess of €65 million.

The new fund is backed by repeat cornerstone investors which include the European Investment Fund (EIF) and FondICO Global, as well as new benchmark investors, such as the Institut Català de Finances (ICF), Prosegur and Draper Esprit. With more than 70 institutional and private investors distributed across its three vintages, the majority of these have chosen to back multiple Adara funds.

Simultaneously, Adara has strengthened its team through the promotion of Rocío Pillado to partner. With over six years’ experience at Adara, Rocío will play a key role in the management of the new fund, alongside the two Managing Partners, Nico Goulet and Alberto Gómez.

“We are delighted to announce the first closing of Adara III, which will allow us to fulfil and strengthen our commitment to early stage, Deep Tech companies. With another nine months ahead prior to the final close, we will to continue to capitalize on the positive sentiment we have perceived in the market with respect to specialized VC funds and grow the size of this investment vehicle further. We believe that this first closing is an immensely positive step towards strengthening Adara’s foothold in its core investment focus, as well as begin to expand our geographical footprint”, said Nico Goulet, co-Managing Partner of Adara Ventures.

Adara III will continue to focus on Deep Tech B2B companies, an investment strategy that has become the hallmark of the firm. Through its first fund, Adara invested in cybersecurity (AlienVault), remote meetings (LoopUp), semiconductors (ADD) and other enterprise SW areas. Fund II focused deeper on the cybersecurity segment (4iQ, CounterCraft, Hdiv), as well as on data analytics and infrastructure (Stratio, Seedtag, Scalefast).

Adara Ventures has a solid investment track record. The company has just been awarded the ASCRI prize for the best venture capital deal in 2018 in recognition for the sale of AlienVault to AT&T. This divestment was one of the largest venture capital exits to date in the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem and featured major international exposure, reinforcing the credibility of Spain and Europe to produce global technology leaders.

THREE PARTNERS AT THE HELM OF ADARA VENTURES

In addition to the new fund, the appointment of Rocío Pillado to the partnership marks another milestone in the firm’s trajectory. Rocío Pillado joined Adara six years ago and, since then, she has risen through the ranks of the firm, working side by side with co-Managing Partners, Alberto Gómez and Nico Goulet. “The promotion of Rocío Pillado to partner of Adara Ventures recognizes her talent, skill, dedication, enthusiasm and passion for technology and entrepreneurship. Combined with our ongoing efforts to recruit new junior talent to the team, this step represents a leap forward in the firm’s trajectory”, explains Alberto Gómez.