Tech-focused VC Draper Esprit rebrands as Molten Ventures

Draper Espirt, the London and Dublin-listed tech-focused venture capital firm, has rebranded as Molten Ventures.

The VC firm said the rebrand reflects its accelerated growth. It comes just two months after it was admitted to the FTSE 250 with a market capitalisation of more than £1.6 billion (€1.38 billion).

Molten Ventures' portfolio of investments covers 67 companies, including Irish drone delivery company Manna Aero, Cambridge-based quantum computing software company, Riverlane, London-based climate intelligence company, Cervest and Finnish satellite company ICEYE. It also includes a number of so-called tech "unicorns" - companies valued at over $1 billion - such as Trustpilot, UiPath, Graphcore, Revolut, Cazoo, Ledger and Aircall.

“All our energy is devoted to identifying and supporting Europe’s most visionary entrepreneurs. We recognise that building the next generation of companies requires flexible, patient and supportive capital and we are uniquely positioned to offer this - making more possible for all of us,” said Nicola McClafferty, investment partner at Molten in Dublin.

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When Draper Esprit first listed five years ago, its portfolio consisted of 24 tech companies that had a combined value of £74.9 million. It now has close to 70 companies with its portfolio that were valued at £984 million at the end of 2020.

Since 2016, Molten Ventures has raised £600 million and seen cash realisations of £380 million with £206 million in the last full year. It has deployed over £700 million into companies and has an annual rate of deployment of approximately £200 million.