DLA Piper advises MiddleGame Ventures on the first closing of a EUR150 million Venture Fund

Supporting innovative businesses across Europe: DLA Piper has advised MiddleGame Ventures on the first closing of a EUR150 million Luxembourg-based alternative investment fund focused on European fintech.

We recently advised fintech venture capital firm MiddleGame Ventures on the structuring, setting up and launching of its third fund. The new fund is designed to support the next generation of digital financial service pioneers at the Post-Seed, Series A, and Series B investment stages across all legacy and emerging financial sector verticals, including adjacent deep-tech and cybersecurity sectors.

DLA Piper supported MiddleGame Ventures on their negotiations with major development financial institutions and leading institutional investors, which resulted in a successful first closing of the fund, building on the success of its predecessor pan-European investment fund. Additional closings are already planned, and the fund remains open to new institutional and private investors ahead of a targeted final close in early 2025.

The DLA Piper Investment Funds team in Luxembourg was led by Partner Catherine Pogorzelski supported by Marceau Visano and Sarah Noville. They were assisted by Jacques Wantz and Emre Akan, both from the Tax team. Catherine Pogorzelski comments on the deal: “It is a great pleasure to advise MiddleGame Ventures on such a high-profile mandate and to have the opportunity to assist them on their successor fund. It is fantastic to see them continuing to evolve in the growing fintech sector with an undeniable success.”

Pascal Bouvier, Managing Partner at MiddleGame Ventures, adds: “We are grateful for the support of our investors who share our conviction that specialist funds with experience working with entrepreneurs, financial institutions, and regulators are best placed to successfully partner with the innovators architecting the new financial services landscape. We believe that financial services are on the cusp of a wave of unprecedented innovation, highlighted by the transition from legacy automation tools to a fully digital financial services infrastructure. This transition will enable seamless business models to emerge, removing friction and paving the way for entrepreneurs to build substantial long-term businesses.”