London, 10 September – The shortlist has been announced for The Investor Allstars Awards 2014, taking place on 24 September 2014 at The Lancaster, London. The annual event is organised by GP Bullhound, the technology investment bank, and GrowthBusiness, a Vitesse Media publication specialising in providing information for entrepreneurs and leaders of fast-growth enterprises.

Now in their 12th year, the awards will celebrate excellence in entrepreneurship and the professional investor community. Awards will be presented for: VC Fund of the Year, Exit of the Year, Growth/Buyout Capital Fund of the Year, Investor of the Year, Female Entrepreneur of the Year, Male Entrepreneur of the Year, Corporate Development Team of the Year, VCT of the Year, Private Investor Network of the Year, Europe’s Allstar Company of the Year, Service Provider of the Year, Equity Gap Fund of the Year and the Sferiq Award for Digital Innovation in Art.

 

There will also be keynote speeches from the likes of David Buttress from JUST EAT and a live performance featuring the ROLI Seaboard, a radically new musical instrument reimagining the piano keyboard using digital technology.

 

The Investor Allstars Awards will also feature Europe’s Allstar Company, a challenge where five of the best known technology companies in Europe will compete to win the accolade for being Europe’s most exciting company. Achica, BlaBlaCar, Farfetch, NewVoiceMedia and Zound Industries will present in the morning and the winner will be announced at the ceremony in the evening.
“It has been an outstanding year for growth and innovation in Europe,” said Manish Madhvani, Managing Partner at GP Bullhound. “European investors are building global leaders and driving billion-dollar exits on a regular basis. Investor Allstars celebrates these investments and draws attention to the innovators and risk takers.”

 

“The Investor Allstars Awards highlight entrepreneurs and VCs who are driving the technology sector forward,” said Niki Baker, CEO of Vitesse Media. “The Awards are an opportunity for the European venture capital community to consider the biggest successes of the past year and look forward to the trends and innovation still to come.”

 

“We have been seeking to identify and champion companies using the internet to make the art world more investor-friendly,” says Ulvi Kasimov, the founder and head of investment company Sferiq, who was recently recognised by Forbes magazine as one of Russia’s ten most successful venture capitalists. “We hoped that the Sferiq Award for Digital Innovation in Art would expose finalists to the attention of international technology investors, who could thus partner with early-stage innovators claiming a share of a £40 billion-plus market.”

 

 

The full shortlists for the Awards are:

VC Fund of the Year

– Accel Partners
– Idinvest Digital Fund II
– Index Ventures
– Intel Capital
– Northzone Ventures
– Octopus Investments
– Scottish Equity Partners
– XAnge Private Equity

Exit of the Year

– CarTrawler – ECI Partners
– Criteo – Elaia Partners, Idinvest Partners, Index Ventures
– Fjordnet – Beringea
– Just Eat – Index Ventures, Vitruvian Partners
– King Digital Entertainment – Index Ventures
– La Fourchette – Serena Capital, Partech Ventures, Otium Capital
– Natural Motion – SPARK Ventures, ISIS Innovation, Balderton Capital
– Neolane – Auriga Partners, XAnge Private Equity
– Supercell – Atomico Investment, Accel Partners, Index Ventures
– TDX – Investcorp Technology Partners

 

Growth/Buyout Capital Fund of the Year

– Business Growth Fund
– Encore Capital
– EQT Partners
– Inflexion Private Equity
– Investcorp Technology Partners
– ISIS Equity Partners
– Synova Capital
– Technology Crossover Ventures
– Vitruvian Partners

Investor of the Year

– Kevin Comolli – Accel Partners
– Benoist Grossmann – Idinvest Partners
– Ben Holmes – Index Ventures
– Christophe Maire – Atlantic Internet
– Nenad Marovac – DN Capital
– Rory Stirling – MMC Ventures

Female Entrepreneur of the Year

– Fleur Emery – Green & Pleasant Lager / Emery Barnard Design
– Nathalie Gaveau – Shopcade
– Ekaterina Konovalova – IQcard
– Nicola McClafferty – Covetique
– Sara Murray – Buddi
– Kathryn Parsons – Decoded
– Holly Tucker – Notonthehighstreet
– Debbie Wosskow – Love Home Swap

Male Entrepreneur of the Year

– David Buttress – JUST EAT
– Kevin Cornils – Glasses Direct
– Jonathan Gale – NewVoiceMedia
– Clive Jackson – FlyVictor
– Frédéric Mazzella – BlaBlaCar
– Alex Saint – Secret Escapes
– Vijay Srinivasan – Cambridge Technology Partners

Corporate Development Team of the Year

– Bertelsmann
– Monitise
– ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
– Schibsted Growth
– St Ives

VCT of the Year

– Albion Ventures
– Edge Performance
– Maven Capital Partners
– Mobeus Equity Partners
– Octopus Investments
– ProVen Growth & Income VCT
– YFM Equity Partners

Private Investor Network of the Year

– Angel Academe
– Crowdcube
– Envestors
– London Business Angels
– Maven Investor Partners
– Seedrs
– Spintop

Europe’s Allstar Company of the Year

– Achica
– BlaBlaCar
– Farfetch
– NewVoiceMedia
– Zound Industries

Service Provider of the Year

– Bird & Bird
– Clydesdale Bank Growth Finance
– JAGShaw Baker
– Kemp Little
– Kreos Capital
– Olswang
– Silicon Valley Bank
– Taylor Wessing

Equity Gap Fund of the Year

– EC1 Capital
– High-Tech Gründerfonds
– Midven
– MMC Ventures
– Notion Capital Partners
– Passion Capital
– Seraphim Capital

Sferiq Award for Digital Innovation in Art

– Articheck
– Artstack
– Artsy
– ArtViatic
– ArtWeb.com
– Paddle8
– Rise Art
– Saatchi Art
– Sedition Art
– Vastari

 

The headline sponsor of the 2014 event is global investment company Sferiq. Award sponsors include: Orrick, a global law firm; Private Equity Recruitment, a specialist recruitment firm in the private equity sector; and Berenberg, an international private bank. Bird & Bird and JAGShaw Baker are further sponsors of the evening.

 

Enquiries

For enquiries please contact Cecilia Roman, cecilia.roman@gpbullhound.com
To attend the event please contact Rebecca Stanley, rebecca.stanley@vitessemedia.co.uk +44 207 250 7050

 

GP Bullhound

GP Bullhound is an international technology investment banking group with offices in London, San Francisco, Stockholm, Berlin and Manchester. Founded in 1999, GP Bullhound provides world-class advice on mergers, acquisitions and private placements to a diverse range of corporate clients, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Combining a true love for entrepreneurship and innovation with deep global buyer relations and sector expertise, GP Bullhound has completed transactions for tech category leaders, most recently selling Pingdom to SolarWinds, Cambridge Technology Partners to Atos, Pozitron to Monitise, Tunigo to Spotify, and Fjord to Accenture. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com.
In 2013, GP Bullhound was awarded Boutique Investment Bank of the Year and Leading Adviser of the Year by the Acquisition International M&A Awards, while Manish Madhvani, a founding partner of GP Bullhound, was named as a winner of the fourth annual M&A Advisor 40 Under 40 Awards.

Vitesse Media

Vitesse Media is a multimedia business that offers award-winning publications, fast-growing websites, exciting events and much-acclaimed research. It is the leading specialist in growth businesses, entrepreneurs and CEOs, as well as their investors, advisers and suppliers. Vitesse Media is quoted on AIM. www.vitessemedia.co.uk.