Bilbao, Spain-based VC firm All Iron Ventures is rebranding to Acurio Ventures, as it today announces that it’s closed its third fund, of €150m, to invest in European startups. LPs include “one of the largest and most prestigious US university endowments”, as well as insurance companies, pension plans, large corporates, 35 family offices and a “large group of technology entrepreneurs and executives.”
It’s the Acurio team’s third direct investment fund; the firm has previously backed European tech companies like Seedtag, Jobandtalent, Lingokids, Preply, Refurbed and Lookiero. The firm also runs a fund of funds to back other VCs.
Acurio says it’s already made some 20 investments from the new fund, and will be backing early-stage European startups with a “generalist sector approach,” mostly as a coinvestor. It plans to put money into around 50 companies.
The firm says it “slightly exceeded” its target size of €150m in “a complex market” for VC fundraising. Acurio says this was helped by the track record of its previous vehicles — it says that its first fund, which it launched in 2020, has already returned its initial capital, delivering an IRR of more than 40%, and that its second fund is “placed comfortably in the top quartile.”
Another new fund for Spain
The closing of a sizeable new VC fund on Spanish soil will come as welcome news to the country’s entrepreneurs, who have historically relied heavily on international VCs. But this year has seen new firm Plus Partners launch its first fund, and regional veterans like K fund and Seaya close a €70m fund and a €300m climate fund respectively.
The country is also starting to see successful founders pouring their own money back into the ecosystem. Acurio was cofounded by Ander Michelena, who sold his startup Ticketbis to Ebay for €165m in 2016, and Glovo cofounder Oscar Pierre launched his own firm Yellow Fund in 2022.
