HarbourVest leads restructuring of Kibo Ventures Fund I

HarbourVest Partners led a secondary deal to transfer seven remaining assets in its first fund into a continuation pool. HarbourVest also agreed to commit to anchor Kibo Ventures Opportunity Fund I, that will continue supporting the existing portfolio and has so far invested in scale-up rounds of companies like JobandTalent, Clarity, Paack, Devo or Exoticca. Alantra worked as secondary adviser on the transaction.

Press Release

Kibo Ventures Partners today announced the transfer of the remainder of its Fund I portfolio to a Continuation Fund. The secondary transaction was led by global private markets investment specialist HarbourVest, through its secondaries and liquidity solutions team.

The transaction represents HarbourVest’s first secondary investment in Spanish Venture Capital and it positions Kibo Ventures as one of the leading emerging managers in European Venture Capital.

Kibo Ventures Partners will remain as the management company of the Continuation Fund.

The transaction also enabled Kibo Ventures to meet its commitment to liquidate Fund I within the timeframe agreed with investors, generating top quartile net returns from a TVPI and a DPI perspective. Fund I’s current TVPI above 3x and IRR of ca. 25% is on track to becoming a top performer within its 2012 vintage.

“We are thrilled to partner with HarbourVest — being backed by a Tier-1 global is a huge endorsement of what Kibo Ventures has built since we launched our Fund I in 2012. We are also extremely grateful to our LP base that trusted us back then and are very happy to be able to provide them with relevant returns in less than nine years,” said Javier Torremocha, Kibo Ventures co-founder & Managing Partner.

“We were impressed by the strong market reputation of the Kibo Ventures’ team and high quality of their portfolio,” added Greg Ciesielski, Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners. “The Kibo Venture’s team has been a positive and value-added partner throughout the process. We are very excited to be partnering with Kibo Ventures as they continue to expand their presence in the European Venture Capital landscape.”

The Continuation Fund portfolio includes the following companies: Flywire ($FLYW), the payment platform which recently completed its IPO in Nasdaq and has a market cap of ca $5 billion; Jobandtalent, the unicorn workforce-as-a-service marketplace, which recently closed a growth round led by Softbank; Carto, the data intelligence software company invested by Accel, Salesforce Ventures, Hearst and Earlybird; Blueliv, a threat intelligence cybersecurity company which recently announced its acquisition by Outpost; Qustodio, a parental control app; Worldsensing, the IoT company focused on critical infrastructures and Tappx, an adtech programmatic platform.

HarbourVest has also committed to anchor Kibo Ventures Opportunity Fund I. This Fund will continue supporting existing portfolio and has so far invested in scale-up rounds of companies like JobandTalent, Clarity, Paack, Devo or Exoticca.

This is also the first transaction that Alantra advise under its new area of advisory in Secondary transactions. The objective of Alantra is to work together with Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds in transactions that allow them to generate liquidity to their final investors and, at the same time, raise capital for new vehicles.

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About Kibo Ventures

Kibo Ventures Partners is an independent European venture capital manager with over €250 million in AuM across four different funds. With a team of twelve professionals between Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, Kibo Ventures invests early-stage in both consumer and enterprise software, entrepreneur-driven companies with a global mindset. Portfolio includes unicorn-status companies Flywire, JobandTalent, Tier Mobility and Sorare and scale-ups like Devo, Paack, Clarity, Definedcrowd, Belvo, Odilo and Exoticca. Relevant former portfolio companies include Coverwallet (acquired by AON), Vilynx (acquired by Apple), Bipi (acquired by Renault), Promofarma (acquired by Zür Rose), Ducksboard (acquired by New Relic), Trip4Real (acquired by Airbnb), Jetlore (acquired by Paypal) or Captio (acquired by Certify).

About HarbourVest

HarbourVest is an independent, global private markets investment specialist with over 35 years of experience and more than $80 billion in assets under management, as of 30 June, 2021. The Firm’s powerful global platform offers clients investment opportunities in private equity, private credit and real assets and infrastructure through primary fund investments, secondary investments, and direct co-investments in commingled funds or separately managed accounts. HarbourVest has more than 700 employees, including more than 170 investment professionals across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. This global team has committed more than $48 billion to newly-formed funds, completed over $29 billion in secondary purchases, and invested over $23 billion directly in operating companies. Partnering with HarbourVest, clients have access to customized solutions, longstanding relationships, and actionable insights.

About Alantra

Alantra is a global alternative asset management, investment banking, and credit portfolio advisory firm focusing on providing high value-added services to companies, families, and investors operating in the mid-market segment. The Group has over 540 professionals across Europe, the US, Latin America, and Asia.

Its Investment Banking division provides independent advice on M & M&A, debt advisory, financial restructuring, and capital markets transactions. It has advised on more than 450 deals for a total value of c.€70bn in the last three years. Alantra’s senior bankers and execution teams offer a global understanding of industry sectors combined with strong local relationships with the companies, investors, entrepreneurs, and financing institutions in each of its markets.

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