January 2025 Update - Isomer Capital
Spotlight Highlights
Celebrating Success
Last year, Europe saw 13 new unicorns, and we’re thrilled to share that 4 of them are in our underlying portfolio!
This means:
Our portfolio VCs have captured 30% of 2024 new European unicorns.
When considering only the VC-backed ones, our portfolio VCs captured 57% of these unicorns.
VC Awards Nominations Are Open!
It’s time to recognise the trailblazers shaping the venture ecosystem. Please submit your nominations now for our upcoming VC Awards Ceremony in May.
Push yourself and from the industry with peers
We’ll trek the most breathtaking sections of the GR 221 trail, known as the Dry Stone Route. This will take us through a 1,000-meter ascent, revealing stunning landscapes set against refreshing ocean breezes. As night falls, a private chef will delight us with exquisite dinners, followed by evenings filled with relaxed activities, a selection of fine drinks, and an array of delights to cap off each day in true style.
Isomer Portfolio Highlights
🇫🇮 Oura, smart ring, raises $125m Series D
🇫🇮 Iceye, (SAR) satellite operations company, raises $65m extension growth
🇬🇧 9fin, debt financing platform, raises $50m Series B
🇬🇧 Lawhive, AI platform for lawyers, raises $40m Series A
🇱🇺 emma, cloud management platform, raises $17m Series A
🇬🇧 Much Better Adventures, online travel company, raises £5m Venture
🇩🇪 metergrid, decentralised energy systems company, raises €3.5m Seed
🇬🇧 Stackfix, software comparison platform, raises $3m Seed
Places to Meet Isomer's Team
🇯🇵 Road trip to Japan (13th to 17th of January) - Joe and Chris will meet with investors in the region.
🇨🇭🇮🇹 Road trip to Switzerland and Italy (13th to 15th of January) - Thomas will meet investors in Zürich, Lugano and Milan.
🇬🇧 Invest Malaysia (16th of January) - Thomas will meet with representatives of the Malaysian government and Malaysian corporates to discuss partnership potential.
🇹🇼 Trip to Asia (Week of the 20th of January) - Thomas and Chris will attend the quarterly corporate meeting of an Isomer LP and meet other investors in the region.
🇫🇷 IPEM (Cannes, 28th to 30th of January) - Thomas will attend the event and speak at a panel on venture capital.
🇩🇪 Private Markets_One (Frankfurt, 28th January) - Joe will speak on the "Future of Fund Liquidity" panel.
🇬🇧 FrenchFounders (Online, 4 February) - Thomas will participate in a panel discussion on Corporate Venture Capital.
🇮🇹 Financing growth and innovation in Europe (Florence, 10-11 March) - Chris will attend a panel to discuss the investment needs for the European tech ecosystem.
Observations and Learnings from 10 Years in European VC Secondaries
Secondary investments have always been a key part of our investment strategy. Since Isomer started, we’ve used secondary transactions in our flagship funds to smooth J-curves and provide faster liquidity to investors (the secondary allocation within Isomer’s first fund achieved over 3x TVPI and over 2x DPI, and continues to grow). Our ability to access the best deals, plus strong growth in our secondary deal flow (up 380% in 2024 vs. 2023), led us to launch a dedicated fund “Isomer Capital Secondaries.”
Here are a few takeaways from our learnings over these years:
Sourcing: Bankers and brokers are not effective in the European secondary VC market due to small transaction sizes and complex pricing. Success depends on building your network and sourcing deals directly. Since the VC industry relies heavily on relationships, reputation and connections are crucial for finding quality opportunities.
Pricing: In VC, the focus isn’t just on the discount but on what the discount is based on. Prioritize acquiring quality, and growing assets before worrying about the price. Otherwise, a seemingly good discount can quickly disappear if the underlying assets are devalued through write-downs or down rounds.
Managing Relationships: Secondaries in VC are less transactional than in buyout deals. Without intermediaries, you’ll often work directly with security holders, making relationship management key. Sellers may need guidance to adjust their expectations, but it’s important to be respectful and avoid pushing too hard. Aim for mutually beneficial deals.
Data Challenges: Data in VC is limited and often hard to obtain. Gathering information from multiple sources is helpful for cross-checking. Be prepared to rely on qualitative factors like team quality, ability to attract talent, and growth plans to make informed decisions.
Speed is Critical: While deal competition is usually low, speed is essential to closing transactions. Unforeseen events, like an up-round, IPO announcement, or acquisition negotiations, can derail deals anytime. With more financing rounds and portfolio companies involved in VC compared to buyouts, the likelihood of such disruptions is higher. For example, in May 2024, we acquired an LP interest in a 2011 VC fund which had in its portfolio a mature company generating over $200 million in revenue. We expected the company to go public in 2-3 years. However, a pre-IPO round led by a major private equity firm incentivised the VC fund to sell 30% of its position, returning 84% of our purchase cost within five months.
This is a very exciting space to be in and given the initial result of Isomer Secondaries Fund, we are confident that the fund will achieve top decile returns.
European VC Awards 2025
Nominations Are Open for the 2025 European VC Awards!
Following last year's success, we are excited to announce the second edition of the European VC Awards. The awards will take place in London at the EUVC Summit (invitation only) on the 14th of May.
After listening to your feedback, we’re excited to introduce two new categories this year:
✨ Firm of the Year
🌟 Emerging Manager of the Year (New)
🌱 Impact Leader of the Year (New)
🔥 Newcomer of the Year
🏆 Achievement of the Year
🚀 Exit of the Year
🏅 Hall of Fame
We’re welcoming back our highly regarded judging panel to select our finalists and winners:
Thomas Kristensen – Partner at LGT Capital Partners
Jonathan Sibilia – Partner & Head of FoFs at Molten Ventures
Giulia Van Waeyenberge – Member of the Executive Committee at Sofina
Stephen Lowery – Head of Investor Coverage & Business Development at HSBC
Joe Schorge – Founding Managing Partner at Isomer Capital
Chris Wade – Founding General Partner at Isomer Capital (Chair)
Douglas Sloan – Managing Director, Impact Venture at Better Society Capital (specialist judge for the Impact Award)
We'd welcome your nominations just follow his link
📅 Deadline: 6th March 2025
