Credit Suisse unveils $261m fintech fund
Credit Suisse Asset Management’s NEXT Investors have closed NEXT Investors II, with $261 million of funding available for fintech and financial services businesses.
The fund has a diverse group of investors, including financial institutions, “ultra-high net worth individuals”, fund of funds, and family offices, and represents an investor base across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Alan Freudenstein, co-head and portfolio manager of NEXT Investors at Credit Suisse Asset Management, says NEXT Investors has been investing together for over 18 years, and by using Credit Suisse’s banking and technology platform, it can “source and evaluate investment opportunities in financial services technology and to create value for our portfolio companies”.
According to NEXT Investors, its portfolio comprises businesses that interact with the financial services industry across sectors including market structure, enterprise software, data analytics and specialty finance.
The team has $498 million in capital across 71 investments.
Credit where it’s due
Like many others, Credit Suisse has been busy investing in fintech.
Last week, online small business lender OnDeck closed a pair of revolving credit facilities. The $93 million in asset-backed funds come from Credit Suisse, which contributed $55 million to go to small businesses in Australia, and Crédit Agricole, which contributed $38 million for small business loans to Canadians.
In May, alternative lending platform BlueVine fortified its backing with a $200 million line of credit from Credit Suisse.
If you want to see the bigger picture, in April, research company CB Insights analysed the private market fintech investment activity of the top European banks and their venture arms, by assets under management (AUM), from 2012 to Q2 2018.
