KPN Ventures to invest in Cottonwood, claims its first fund-in-fund investment

A big fund that invests in another fund, that’s quite unusual in the Netherlands if you ask me. KPN Ventures, the venturing arm of KPN, has an agreement with Cottonwood European Technology Fund (CETF) to become one of its cornerstone investors.

Cottonwood European Technology Fund is a venture capital fund specialising in high-tech companies in an early stage of development. With this deal, KPN Ventures claims its first fund-in-fund investment.

Expand KPN Ventures’ scope

“Investing in CETF enables us to expand our own scope and network in the technology-driven seed- and early-stage innovation ecosystem in Northern Europe,” said KPN Ventures Director Herman Kienhuis.

“It will provide us with more opportunities for strategic partnerships with highly innovative technology companies and potential growth stage investment opportunities, also outside The Netherlands.”

Early-stage science-based investing outside Silicon Valley and Boston

Cottonwood is a U.S. fund excelling in early-stage science-based investing outside Silicon Valley and Boston. Cottonwood focuses on regions rich in ideas but emerging in the areas of experienced management and capital.

Cottonwood European Technology Fund primarily invests in photonics, telecommunications and healthcare companies.

The investments in CETF complement KPN Ventures’ direct investment activities, such as the recently announced investment in EclecticIQ (link in Dutch).

Early adopter

“Being a Global 1000 company and a leader in communications, KPN is a great innovation partner and provides an ideal testing ground for so many of the technologies we are finding and supporting. KPN is willing to be an early adopter and help the companies test their products in live applications and pilots, which is evidence of how entrepreneurial they truly are,” said Ray Quintana, General Partner and Head of European Operations and Corporate Relationships for Cottonwood.

Cottonwood Europe Technology Fund

Cottonwood primarily invests in companies active in photonics, advanced materials, healthcare, telecom, automotive, mobility and clean energy. Cottonwood Europe Technology Fund (CETF), Cottonwood’s European fund, is based in the Netherlands and serves The Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium.

KPN Ventures is the venturing arm of KPN, The Netherlands’ leading telecom and IT company.  KPN Ventures invests both directly in high-growth European technology start-ups and indirectly through fund-in-fund investments. The managing director is Herman Kienhuis, formerly the investment manager at Sanoma Ventures.