TLDR:
- Forestay Capital has raised $220 million for its second fund, focusing on investments in AI and SaaS startups in Europe and Israel.
- The VC typically invests $10-15 million as a lead investor in early growth rounds and has already partnered with startups such as Veriti and Neural Concept.
Forestay Capital announced the closing of its second fund, Forestay II, at $220 million, with a focus on investments in Enterprise AI and Software as a Service (SaaS) companies at early growth stages in Europe and Israel. The VC typically invests $10-15 million as a lead investor in early growth rounds. Forestay I’s portfolio includes successful companies such as Wasabi, Nexthink, Scandit, and K2View, with three reaching unicorn status and two being acquired at an average gross IRR exceeding 50%.
Forestay II has already partnered with enterprise AI startups such as Israeli cybersecurity solution Veriti and engineering intelligence company Neural Concept. Forestay was founded as an enterprise technology fund of B-FLEXION, the private entrepreneurial investment firm established by the Bertarelli family, known for building Serono into the third-largest biotech business globally before its merger with Merck KGaA.
In its second fund, Forestay has received backing from some of the largest family offices in Europe, including a partnership with Anaïs Ventures, the investment vehicle for certain members of the Firmenich family.