According to a press release, $1.2 billion will go towards backing growth rounds and the remaining $800 million will be used to support more nascent companies. [Read: Don’t believe the hype: Why skepticism is increasingly important for VCs] Interestingly — and perhaps unsurprisingly given the current climate — the fund will specifically target companies fundamentally changing how we live and work, as well as those providing enterprise infrastructure and AI to underpin these changes. The news is likely to provide a much needed injection of positivity for founders and entrepreneurs suffering the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Jan Hammer, Partner at Index Ventures, said: “Innovation is often born out of adversity. The path to building a great company is not a straight line, with many obstacles and forks along the way. We take the long view and remain committed to investing in ambitious entrepreneurs at this unprecedented time.” [Read: How travel tech companies aim to survive the coronavirus pandemic] The fund’s launch comes after several of Index Ventures’ portfolio companies — including Adyen, Datadog, and Slack — IPO’ed last year. Other well known investments include Alan, Collibra, Confluent, Deliveroo, Facebook, Glossier, KRY/LIVI, Notion, Pilot, Revolut, Roblox, Robinhood, and Scale AI. Several other funds have announced important fundraises in recent months. Back in February, Atomico, the VC firm set up by Skype‘s co-founder Niklas Zennstrom closed an additional $820 million fund to back “mission-driven” European tech startups. Earlier this week, Blossom Capital said it was launching a $5 million angel program targeting European technology startups.
