This week’s family/private investment office deals

Our Deal of the Week involves a number of family offices co-investing with institutional money in a smart-food platform. More details here

M&A 

Santo Venture Capital, the venture arm of ATHOS Service, the family office of Thomas and Andreas Strüngmann, has fully acquired Movinga, the Berlin-based online relocation service provider platform, according to local filings. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Santo Venture Capital invested in Movinga in October 2017, when it led a Series D round worth €22 million. Earlier backers included Oliver Samwer’s Global Founders Capital, and Cologne-based STS Ventures, an investment group set up by serial entrepreneur, Stephan Schubert.

Private Equity

Mica Ventures, an investment office set up by Michael Hartweg, a German, but Swiss-based fintech multi-millionaire, has bought a majority stake in Haute Route, which organises multi-day cycling events for amateur riders in the Swiss Alps. Mica bought the stake from French media company Le Télégramme Group. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Unspecified Rounds

Peak Capital, an Amsterdam-based investment group owned by Heleen Dura van Oord, who is a member of the family who owns the huge Dutch dredging company Van Oord, has invested in Floryn, a fintech lending platform. Peak was one of two investors committing €9 million to the Dutch-based group.  

Geneva-based Celeste Management, an investment office owned by a member of the Louis–Dreyfus family, has invested in La Belle Vie, an online grocery platform. Celeste was one of four investors committing $11.6 million to the Paris-based group. 

Members of the Quebec-based Leclerc family, who own food company Leclerc Group, have invested in Poka, a connected worker platform built for manufacturers. The family investors joined five other investors in a round worth $4.7 million for the Quebec-based group. 

Seed

CEAS Investments, a Delray, Florida-based investment office believed to be owned by Leslie Alexander, a billionaire entrepreneur and financier who previously owned the National Basketball Association side, the Houston Rockets, has invested in  CognitOps, an Austin, Texas-based software startup. CEAS joined two other investors to seed CognitOps with $3 million. 

Leslie Ventures, an investment group owned by American entrepreneur Mark Leslie, has invested in Ahana, a San Mateo, Californian-based startup. Leslie Ventures was one of two investors committing $2.3 million to the startup. 

Placeholder, a New York City-based investment group set up by Chris Burniske, a very early investor in bitcoin, has backed Magic, which is developing passwordless security for online applications. Placeholder led the $4 million investment in the San Francisco-based startup; 15 other investors participated. 

Neglected Climate Opportunities, a subsidiary of the Grantham Foundation,  owned by Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of US asset manager GMO, has invested Propagate Ventures, an agro-forestry investment and project development platform. Neglected Climate seeded the New York City-based startup with $1.5 million. 

Parlay Capital Holdings, an Atlanta, Georgia based investment office owned by local entrepreneur Greg Buonocore, has invested an unspecified amount in Betsperts, a Chicago-based betting startup. 

Series A 

Zoma Capital, a private investment office founded by Lucy Ana and husband Ben Walton, a member of America’s wealthiest dynasty the Waltons who own Walmart, has invested in PAIRIN, a personalized career, education and job-matching platform. Zoma was one of six investors committing $2.1 million to the Denver, Colorado-based group. 

G5 Capital, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment group owned by Robert B. Goergen, a prominent local entrepreneur and philanthropist, has invested in  STRINGR, a New York City-based media group. G5 Capital was one of five investors committing $5.8 million to the group. 

Series B 

Forestay Capital, a venture group owned by Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, has invested in Wasabi Technologies, a cloud storage platform. Forestay led the $30 million round; three others participated in the round for the Boston-based group. 

Dig Ventures, an investment group owned by Ross Mason, who founded MuleSoft, a San Francisco based software company, has invested in Stackin’, a text messaging platform. Dig Ventures was one of eight investors committing $12.8 million to the Los Angeles-based group. 

Series D

Jeff Skoll, probably through his investment group, Capricorn Investment Group, along with Bono, of U2 fame, have invested in Varo Money, a fintech group. Skoll, Bono along with two others led the $241 million round for the San Francisco-based group; three other investors participated in the round.