Venture capital firms find good startup targets in Europe

New York

KLAUS HOMMELS has invested in some of Europe's most successful startups. That includes Spotify, the music-streaming service, and Klarna, a Swedish online payments company valued at more than US$2 billion. He has also backed several American tech giants like Facebook and Airbnb, the vacation rental site. Now, the German venture capitalist is doubling down on Europe's tech sector.

Mr Hommels' venture capital firm, Lakestar, is due to announce a new fund worth 350 million euros (S$555 million), one of the largest European fundraisings so far this year. It is more than double his previous fund, raised in 2013, whose portfolio of startups includes Harry's, the US online shaving company, and Algomi, a London-based social network for bond trading.