ATTENTION READERS: 30 Days Remaining To Invest In FirstPartyCapital Fund 1
And now, the time has come. And so I face the final curtain. Yes, readers, we are approaching the last days of fundraising for Fund 1.
We are about to close the doors. You will miss out if you don’t commit in the next two weeks.
In fairness, we have been endlessly raising this fund for the better part of three years. And now, it's time to conclude fundraising.
Why are we stopping the process for fund 1?
We know all the companies we are going to invest in. We are done with fund 1.
We are starting to raise our $50 million fund 2 from January. Fund 2 will invest in a bunch of new startups and our star companies from fund 1 who can scale to be category winners. We want to fill the dire Series A gap in European ad tech investing. More on that thesis will be provided at a later date.
Inbound acquisition interest for some of our companies is inevitable. If one of these deals materialises into a liquidity event, we CANNOT continue to raise more money into Fund 1 and start to distribute capital to investors.
Now, over 5000 industry leaders are subscribed to this newsletter. At this stage, all readers will have sussed out our blatantly obvious core raison d'être:
To make money: That might be a weird statement from a quasi-VC (in truth, we are not VCs). But it’s true. Our management fees would barely cover a bar bill or underwrite a Roka lunch. Outcomes are the only way to a) return money to our LPs and b) help deliver real-world M&A events for everyone.
Redistributing ad tech wealth: As Kevin Flood, our legendary GP, puts it endlessly, FPC is a “community fund.” What the hell does that mean? Well, we have an LP base of 200+ industry insiders. It’s effectively our superpower. We can activate this base when we need to push our portfolio companies. The other great thing is that WHEN (not if) an exit occurs, 200 industry people globally will benefit - and not the same 10 guys in New York.
Engaging the ad tech brain: First and foremost, FirstPartyCapital is operator-led. Between the partners, advisers, and LP base, we have some of the best grey matter in the industry. We eat, sleep and drink ad tech. This helps shape our evolving investment thesis and seek out value. Think of us as 200+ Warren Buffets continuously hunting the best investment opportunities in ad tech globally.
Value, not “swinging for the fences”: Expanding on this point is essential. Ad tech has a massive TAM, but we are not building nuclear reactors or curing cancer. We are effectively building better mousetraps around targeting, execution and measurement. Sure, there is lots of innovation happening, but the road to an ad tech outcome is a reasonably well-trodden path from a strategic buyer or a PE point of view. As a fund, we think ad tech's optimum sale price range is $50 million to $250 million. We get in early and own a decent chunk of these startups. That helps to make everyone money (see point 1) - founders, LPs and the fund.
Before we finish pitching you hard today, here is a list of data points from our Managing Partner, Rich Ashton, about Fund 1 performance to date (see below). We like to call it “Rich Data” (see what FPC did there).
Those Rich Data stats in full:
$12M raised so far. Aiming to raise $2M+ before the final close.
17 portfolio companies, with at least one more company to be added.
The portfolio valuation has increased 30% in aggregate, based on 5 mark-ups.
Less than 4 years remaining on the lifespan of the fund.
The countdown clock is ticking, reader. You have just TWO WEEKS to confirm. After that, it will be sad for those sitting outside the FPC tent as we bathe in the glory of European ad tech M&A.
To reiterate the point: YOU WILL NOT GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO INVEST IN FPC FUND 1.
If you want to join our ad tech LP gang, email us at contact@firstpartycapital.com.
Readers have a great ad tech day.