Molten Ventures

Molten Ventures
Formerly
  • Esprit Capital (2006–2015)
  • Draper Esprit (2015–2021)
Company typePublic limited company
IndustryVenture capital
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
FounderStuart Chapman
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom[1]
Key people
Karen Slatford (Chairman), Martin Davis (CEO), Stuart Chapman (Chief Portfolio Officer), Ben Wilkinson (CFO)[2]
ProductsVenture capital, growth capital
RevenueDecrease £(217.4) million (2023)[3]
Decrease £(241.3) million (2023)[3]
Decrease £(243.4) million (2023)[3]
Owner
Websitewww.moltenventures.com

Molten Ventures, formerly Draper Esprit, is a British venture capital firm, investing in high growth technology companies with global ambitions. The firm has offices in London, Cambridge and Dublin. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

Founded in 2006 as Esprit Capital, the company was renamed Draper Esprit in 2015 after joining Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper and the Draper Venture Network.[4]

In June 2016, Draper Esprit was the subject of an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.[5] It moved to the main market in July 2021 becoming the largest technology-related venture capital company to be publicly listed.[6]

In November 2021, Draper Esprit rebranded to Molten Ventures.[7]

In April 2022, Molten Ventures joined The Venture Capital Trust Association (VCTA).[8] In November 2023, Molten Ventures acquired Forward Partners for £41.4 million.[9]

Investments

Investments have included companies such as Crowdcube,[10] Endomag,[11] Freetrade,[12] Graphcore,[13] Revolut[13] and Trustpilot.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Draper Esprit backs Aircall in £10m deal". UK Business Angels Association. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Venture capitalist firm Draper Esprit has managerial reshuffle". City A.M. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). Molten Ventures. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Tim Draper doubles down on Europe". Tech Crunch. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Want to get into tech investing? VC firm Draper Esprit has just gone public". CNBC. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Draper Esprit floats to become largest tech VC on London's main market". City AM. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Draper Esprit cuts the legacy name apron strings to rebrand as Molten Ventures". TechCrunch. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Pembroke VCT and Molten Ventures VCT join VCTA". www.privateequitywire.co.uk. 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  9. ^ "Molten snaps up Forward Partners in £41m London tech deal". Yahoo Finance. 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  10. ^ "Draper Esprit leads £8.5 million investment in Crowdcube". FN Extra. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  11. ^ "UK medtech startup Endomag raises £15 million to scale its non-invasive approach to breast cancer". Tech.eu. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  12. ^ "London-based Fintech Freetrade Raises €13.4 Million via Series A Investment Round, Receives Funding from First Capital Investor". Crowdfund Insider. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  13. ^ a b Sandle, Paul (2 November 2022). "VC firm Molten Ventures cuts portfolio value after tech sell-off". Reuters.
  14. ^ "Trustpilot IPO could provide big bucks exit for seed backer Draper Esprit". Shares Magazine. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2021.