Blossom Capital scores $85m from Robinhood and Funding Circle backers

Silicon Valley’s biggest fintech investors are pouring cash into a new VC funding launched by ex-LocalGlobe and Index Ventures investor Ophelia Brown last year. Blossom Capital, which has already backed five startups including rental marketplace Fat Lama, today raised $85m which it will use to lead Series A rounds of between $5m and $10m in Europe. “Too often founders have felt they need to go to the West Coast to raise their Series A,” said Brown. “With our unique Silicon Valley ties and deep networks, we’ve set up Blossom to help change that.” Brown has previously worked on investments in Credit Benchmark and Robinhood while at Index Ventures, and led investments in Osper and Big Health at LocalGlobe. US backers pouring cash into the fund today include Tom Stafford, managing partner of DST Global, Vladimir Tenev, co-founder of Robinhood and Andy Weissman, partner of Union Square Ventures. “The Blossom team have shown strong conviction in their investments to date. They move quickly to back founders and have been working closely with their portfolio companies to hit ambitious targets,” said Stafford, who previously led DST’s investments in Revolut and Funding Circle. Along with Brown other partners in Blossom include Mike Hudack, chief technology officer at Deliveroo until recently, and Louise Samet, previously group product manager at Klarna and an upcoming speaker at AltFi’s London Summit on 18 March. “US funds are looking to Europe for diversification, but they largely lack the European knowledge, networks and experience they need to thrive here,” said Hudack.  “Our mission at Blossom is to blend the best of both worlds and cultures, and leverage them effectively to help European companies become global players.” With $85m from a team of A* fintech investors, along with a core team including former fintech employees and backers, Blossom could find itself in the ideal position to back Europe’s next generation of fintech startups.