2024
Innova Capital closes 7th fund with record EUR 407m result
Innova Capital, a leading private equity firm in Central Europe, has successfully closed its latest fund - Innova/7, raising EUR 407 million. This achievement stands as a monumental milestone in Innova's history, as latest fund surpassed both the initial target of EUR 350 million and the hard cap of EUR 400 million. Despite navigating through the unstable economic climate in Europe and one of the most difficult fundraising environment in years, process was completed with resounding success.
Innova’s newest fund has attracted the interest of foreign institutional and commercial players from Europe and North America, as well as Polish investors, whose total share in now over 25%. With a strategic focus on three key sectors – business and financial services, industrials, and consumer & lifestyle (including healthcare) – the latest fund prioritises digitisation and modern technology integration in each sector. Moreover, central to the fund’s management is Innova’s new ESG strategy, encapsulated by the ‘Beyond Profit’ ethos. This approach commits to conducting thorough analysis of investment targets to identify ESG-driven growth opportunities, while also assessing associated risks and impacts comprehensively.
“The finalisation of Innova/7 coincides with our 30th anniversary. Therefore we are embarking 4th decade of our operations with the most substantial capital ever amassed by us in a single fund, a new ESG strategy through which we will build the value of our portfolio companies even more effectively and new ideas on how to grow our business. We extend our gratitude to both long-standing and recent investors, as well as to institutions, entrepreneurs, and family offices for their confidence in us throughout this journey. Our appreciation also goes to all the partners who have been our pillar of support over the years. An exciting future lies ahead, and we are eager to capitalize on it by aiding Central European companies in their strategic evolution and seizing new growth opportunities,” says Krzysztof Kulig, Senior Partner, responsible for fundraising process.
The first of the Innova/7 investments was completed in May 2023, as a part of which Innova acquired NETOPIA Group, a Romanian payment services provider. Subsequently, Innova Capital has also invested in R-GOL – a multi-brand distributor of football merchandise in CEE, EMI Group providing gate and handling systems, Pfleiderer Polska – a wood-based boards manufacturer, as well as Dimark Manufacture S.A. supplying proprietary BHS automation solutions and CloudFerro providing cloud services to the European space sector.
As for the other funds, Innova has delivered significant liquidity to its investors with fully divested Innova/5 and first large exit from Innova/6. Innova plans to use the assets remaining in the sixth fund to make further acquisitions within the existing portfolio (add-ons).
