The venture capital arm of insurance and asset management group AXA has raised $150 million for its second early stage fintech and healthtech fund.
AXA'a first Early Stage Fund, a $110 million vehicle raised in 2015, has been successfully deployed, investing in 40 equity deals and six secondary funds.
The new fund will focus on North America, Europe & Israel and will aim to support technology businesses, pre and early revenue, in enterprise SaaS, consumer platform and SME solutions, with particular focus on fintech and digital health.
The AXA Venture Partners team have also set their sights on writing initial cheques up to $6 million to support entrepreneurs with business development opportunities with AXA and any other institutional investors in the fund.
Francois Robinet, AVP managing partner, says: “This fundraise was completed at a record speed with existing and new investors. This is a strong vote of confidence for our team and strategy, and a recognition of what has been achieved with our first Early Stage Fund. We plan to hold a second closing with additional new investors..”