Questions have been raised about the London-based VC firm which plans to back US startup Bolt Financial on its proposed $450m fundraising at a $14bn valuation.
VC firm The London Fund has been listed as one of the lead investors in the planned mammoth fundraise by Bolt, the San Francisco-based startup which provides software for e-commerce firms.
The fundraising, which has yet to be finalised by shareholders, will see Bolt’s charismatic young founder Ryan Breslow return as CEO.
Instead of cash, the fundraising will partly involve The London Fund pledging up to $250m in influencer marketing credits.
According to Forbes, which spoke to The London Fund founder and CEO Ashesh Shah, the credits will be provided through a platform called Influence, run by Shah.
Shah said the platform has on its books several hundred influencers with 500,000 followers each, who can help Bolt transform itself into a super app.
As part of the deal Bolt would make an investment into The London Fund, and Breslow, who founded Bolt when he was just 19, would join the VC firm’s board.
The blurb on The London Fund website says: “Our proprietary process allows us to identify Ferraris with flat tyres, while also performing real-time due diligence on team dynamics, psychographics, capabilities, motivation and focus.
"We help entrepreneurs shift the balance away from the stagnant investment modes of established companies."
On its portfolio page, The London Fund listed 20 active portfolio companies.
However, Axios contacted some of the 20 firms, some of whom said they had never heard of The London Fund.
It said that, after making several calls to the portfolio companies, seven of the 20 active portfolio companies had been erased from the The London Fund portfolio page, reducing it to 13.
Tech.eu has contacted most of the remaining 13 companies.
Sources close to one of them, Beatchain, the music company, said it stopped working with The London Fund in May this year.
Sources close to another active portfolio company, wellness drinks brand Honeydrop, said Honeydrop didn’t work with the VC firm after it ended an initial agreement.
It is understood that Honeydrop has asked The London Fund to be removed from its portfolio page.
Bolt was valued at $11bn in 2022 when it underook a $355m fundraise.
The London Fund did not respond to a request for comment.
IMAGE: PIXABAY
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