Carlyle raises over $3 billion for its new fund to invest in European tech startups

While dozens of European companies are leaving Europe for the United States due to high energy prices, European tech startups may breathe a sigh of relief after U.S. buyout firm Carlyle Group announced today it is investing billions of dollars over the next five years.

Carlyle announced today that it has raised $3.12 billion (three billion euros) for its pan-European technology fund focused on lower mid-market and growth technology companies across Europe. The fund, called CETP V, has exceeded its 2.5 billion euro target in less than a year of fundraising, more than doubling the size of the previous fund CETP IV.

In a statement, the co-heads of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners Michael Wand and Vladimir Lasocki said that the fund will target tech startups in the areas such as cybersecurity, digital transformation, and cleantech, as well as software applications for financial services, Reuters reported.

With an average investment period of five years, Carlyle said it aims to invest in approximately 20-30 companies through the new fund and in most cases will buy a majority stake but reserve about 15% of the fund for growth equity transactions, Wand and Lasocki said.

They also added that the new fund will write equity cheques of up to 250 million euros, resulting in deals from between 100 million euros and 500 million euros in enterprise value.

Founded in 1987, Washington, DC-based Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm that invests in early and later-stage companies. The firm manages $369 billion in assets, spanning 3 business segments and 531 investment vehicles. It also has 29 offices across 5 continents and more than 2,100 professionals worldwide.