N&Q: Family office and impact investing deals

Russian billionaire backs mobile

Vollin Holdings, the private investment office of Russian steel magnate and billionaire Alexander Abramov, has participated in a massive funding round for Truphone, a mobile network group. Vollin, along with two other investors, have coughed up £255 million in a private equity round for the UK-based group. Other big investors in Truphone in the past have included fellow Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich.

Family-backed VC groups invest in insurance group

Thomvest, a VC-focused family office of Peter Thomson, the Canadian owner of Thomson Reuters, along with another family-backed VC group called Talis Capital, have backed a finance company called PremFina. Thomvest and Talis Capital, along with four other investors, are backing the group with $36 million.

Big named family impact investors open their chequebooks

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative have backed a group called Andela, which provides companies with access to the top 1% of tech talent across the African continent. The Initiative entered into a Series C investment round with eight other investors worth $40 million.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has backed Visterra, which researches on and develops therapeutic and diagnostic products for the treatment of infectious disease. The Foundation entered into Series C funding round for Visterra with 10 other investors worth more than $23 million.