Darktrace and Depop backer Balderton Capital is raising a new $400 million fund for European startups

• One of Europe's biggest startup investors has a new $400 million fund to focus on early-stage startup investments.
• London headquartered Balderton Capital's new fund will invest in Series A rounds.
  
• The firm's portfolio includes companies like Revolut, Citymapper, Darktrace, Depop, and GoCardless.
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Europe's startups will soon have access to a massive new pool of funding.

London-headquartered venture capital firm Balderton has launched a new $400 million investment fund to back early-stage startups in Europe.

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The firm specializes in Series A rounds, the frequency of which has increased fourfold in Europe since 2012, according to its analysis.

Last year saw a record high funding for European startups with with the total amount of venture capital funding flowing into European startups hitting $27.2 billion.

It's a prominent sector of the market for a number of reasons due to the quality and maturity of startup teams in Europe, as a result of more second-time founders coming forward with new projects, according to Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, a partner at Balderton.

"Series A is the inflection point where a company really starts to go global and in Europe it's usually about scaling a company into the US market," Fjeldsoe-Nielsen told Business Insider in an interview at Web Summit in Lisbon.

While not as dramatic as in the US, valuations have grown in Europe in recent years as startups become increasingly attractive to investors outside the continent. The rise in prices has made differentiation among Europe's top funds more important than ever.

"Capital is so much more accessible to companies than before and funds are sitting on a lot of cash," he added. "For us it's not about the cash but the value and we provide that. Companies speak to other founders in our portfolio and they help each other grow."

Balderton, which has been in operation since 2000, has seven partners with its latest fund coming in larger than its previous $375 million effort with its most recent offering significantly oversubscribed, according to Fjeldsoe-Nielsen.

Unicorns such Revolut and DarkTrace feature in Balderton's portfolio alongside healthtech companies such as Healx, regtech providers like ComplyAdvantage, and scooter company VOI. Since the beginning of 2018, Balderton's portfolio has attracted over $2bn in follow-on funding across 15 countries.