Innocent founders raise £100m for fresh venture fund
A London venture capital firm set up by the founders of smoothie-maker Innocent has raised a £100m fund to pump into challenger brands.
JamJar investment, launched by Innocent entrepreneurs Adam Balon, Jon Wright, Richard Reed, alongside Partner Katie Marrache, has bagged £48m backing from the BBB’s Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme as well as crowdfunding and backing from a number of new and existing investors in the firm.
Marrache said the capital would now be channelled into helping new challenger brands “win their fight”.
“Consumer consciousness is in our blood and we are proud to be the first fund to absorb all Seedrs fees meaning our crowd has come in on exactly the same terms as larger LPs,” she said.
JamJar specialises in backing early-stage seed and sub-£5m series A funding rounds, with typical investments typically ranging from £500k to £3m, with the firm now aiming to make around 10 investments with the fresh funding.
Ken Cooper, managing director of venture solutions at British Business Bank said its backing of the new fund would allow under-served areas to access capital.
“Our cornerstone commitment to JamJar’s fund will help them to provide successful finance and support to early stage, high-potential UK consumer businesses,” he said.