Raising capital through the internet
Austrian-born Hermann Hauser, best known in the UK for founding Acorn Computers and establishing the joint venture with Apple that became Arm Holdings, has been at the heart of British venture capitalism for the past 20 to 25 years. He recently returned to the fray with Cambridge-based Amadeus Capital Partners, a new private equity fund-management company.
The company's first venture-capital fund, Amadeus 1, is focused on investing in early-stage technology companies with global potential. Launched with an initial target of £30 million ($18 million), it closed just before Christmas at £50 million and already has around £5 million invested in four ventures. The founding partners - Hauser, Anne Glover and Peter Wynn - share 40 years' experience in founding, financing and growing UK-based technology companies. Amadeus aims to fill the gap which companies encounter early on when looking for modest amounts of money.
Investors in Amadeus 1 are a small group of international financial institutions and corporates with similar investment objectives and the ability to add value at later stages in each company's development. They include Microsoft, Gilde Investment Management, BankAmerica, Reuters, Deutsche Telekom, France Télécom, Lazards, Intel, London Merchant Securities, the European Investment Fund and a number of Cambridge colleges.