Venture capital firm Acurio Ventures today announced the closing of Acurio Secondaries I FCR, an innovative European fund with a size of approximately €115 million that invests exclusively in fund-level secondary transactions involving European VC funds.
With this new vehicle announced today, Acurio Ventures now has assets under management exceeding €450 million, spread across five investment vehicles focused on technology in Europe, three dedicated to direct investment in startups and two focused on investment in VC funds.
The private equity market, and particularly the VC segment, faces an environment characterised by limited liquidity, a challenge that Acurio Ventures aims to address with its new fund.
Secondary transactions have emerged over the past decade as a complementary exit mechanism to traditional IPOs and mergers and acquisitions. Accordingly, 2025 was the largest year on record for secondaries, with global investment volumes exceeding US$200 billion.
However, unlike other private equity segments (buyouts, middle market, etc.), secondary activity in funds in the VC space, particularly in Europe, remains at a very early stage and is driven mainly by large United States managers with billions of assets under management.
This new Acurio vehicle seeks to capitalise on an opportunity in a nascent market with substantial room for growth, focusing exclusively on European VC funds and on an underserved market segment of transactions below €20 million.
The new vehicle aims to be fully invested within 18-24 months, focusing on mature early-stage VC funds, namely those 8+ years into their terms, with well-defined portfolios with clearly identified value drivers and realistic exit plans within two to three years. The objective is to achieve a net multiple of at least 2x invested capital for investors, with internal rates of return (IRRs) above 25 per cent.
The new fund already has a meaningful portfolio, having committed close to €45 million to date.
"We are extremely grateful for the trust placed in us by our investors, both new and returning. Successfully launching a new fund of this nature in such a difficult fundraising market for VC, and doing so with a 100 per cent private investor base that includes prestigious institutional investors, is a milestone and a validation that reinforces the strategy we have been pursuing," said Diego Recondo, Partner at Acurio Ventures.
In addition to its investment strategy in European VC funds, Acurio Ventures has three other vehicles dedicated to direct investment in European seed and series A startups.
The latest of these, Acurio Ventures III, closed in 2024 above €150 million and is still in its investment period, currently holding a portfolio of more than 40 companies.
The firm has invested in approximately 120 startups and 20 VC funds to date, and its direct portfolio includes established scaleups such as Seedtag, Voy, Preply, Jobandtalent, Indexa Capital, Lingokids and Refurbed.
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