Atomico raises $820m to invest in “mission-driven” European startups

London VC firm Atomico has raised a new $820m fund aimed at “mission-driven” European startups.

The investor, which has previously backed the likes of Klarna, Stripe, Farmdrop and Habito, now has total assets under management of $2.7bn.

Investors are said to include pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, banks and government-backed entities globally.

The fund, Atomico's fifth, will primarily invest in companies at series A stage, with recent recipients including medical AI company HealX, machine learning-based medical imaging company Kheiron Medical, digital procurement platform Scoutbee and childcare platform Koru Kids.

Niklas Zennstrom, founding partner and chief executive of Atomico, said: “Venture capital has a critical part to play in a world with so many urgent challenges.

“We’re looking for the ambitious, mission-driven founders behind the companies with visionary solutions to seemingly intractable problems.”

Atomico’s previous fund, in 2017, closed at $765m. It has backed 11 companies to a $1bn, "unicorn" valuation.