Yahoo Finance Unilever-Backed Venture Firm Cathay Raising 1 Billion-Euro Fund
(Bloomberg) -- Cathay Innovation, a venture capital group backed by consumer conglomerate Unilever Plc and energy giant TotalEnergies SE, is raising 1 billion euros ($1 billion) to back tech startups.
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The venture arm of investment firm Cathay Capital Group, is putting together its third fund, which will focus on sectors including digital health and financial technology companies, co-founder Denis Barrier said in an interview.
The group is going up against an environment that’s slashed tech valuations as rising interest rates and inflation fears sparked a market-wide collapse. Klarna Bank AB closed a funding round that shrank its valuation to $6.7 billion from $45.6 billion, the Swedish buy-now-pay-later company said in a statement on Monday. Tech investor SoftBank Group Corp. has has said it will scale back on deals.
“Valuation is lower in the market, so if you believe in tech, if you believe in the power and growth of digital platforms, for sure this is a very good time to invest,” Barrier said.
The company -- which has more than $2 billion in assets under management and has made over 120 investments in companies including Spanish delivery app Glovo and fintech Chime -- will make investments in the range of 5 million euros to 80 million euros.
Other corporate backers for Cathay Innovation including the likes of luxury conglomerate Kering SA and pharmaceutical firm Sanofi, according to its website. Along with providing capital, the corporate investors also collaborate with portfolio companies.
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