GP Bullhound and Vitesse Media reveal winners of Investor Allstars Awards 2016

London, 4 October 2016 – The winners of the 14th annual Investor Allstars Awards were announced last Thursday at a ceremony at The Intercontinental Park Lane, London. Despite turbulence within the market, Europe’s technology sector has experienced continued success in the past 12 months. The awards celebrated the investors, entrepreneurs and firms who have made this possible.

GP Bullhound’s recent unicorn report found 47 billion-dollar tech companies across Europe. Exemplifying this trend, the shortlist for Exit of the Year had numerous multi billion-dollar exits in the form of Supercell & Avito. The award went to Magic Pony, the showcase exit to Twitter by Entrepreneur First and Octopus Ventures.

Entrepreneur of the Year went to Jose Neves, founder of the luxury fashion unicorn Farfetch, while Accel Partners was crowned VC Fund of the Year for the second year running, in recognition of their number and size of new investments this year. The VC firm was also early to spot the potential of Supercell, Europe’s first Decacorn.

Darktrace, one of the world’s leading cyber threat defence companies, was announced as Europe’s Allstar Company – the tech company with the highest growth potential in Europe. Poppy Gustafsson, Darktrace COO, was awarded the accolade after pitching to an audience of investors. Five companies were shortlisted in the category including Kreditech, Picanova, Watchfinder and Stratajet.

The evening started with a keynote speech from Dominik Richter, CEO and co-founder of HelloFresh, the Berlin-based food delivery unicorn. Other winners included German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1, who won the ‘Corporate Development Team of the Year’, and Crowdcube, who topped the ‘Private Investor Network of the Year’. In addition, Nenad Marovac of DN Capital was named ‘Investor of the Year’.

Manish Madhvani, Managing Partner of GP Bullhound, commented: “If last year was the year of the unicorn, this year is the year of the decacorn, with Europe producing its first $10 billion tech firm, Supercell. Europe’s versatile technology sector has answered its critics, seeing off several challenges and renewed scrutiny this year. We have observed sustained growth in European tech markets, powered by the individuals and organisations gathered here tonight. Investor Allstars recognises this valued contribution, promoting European tech on the international stage.”

Niki Baker, CEO of Vitesse Media, added: “Investor Allstars is a hallmark event for Europe’s digital sector. Each year Europe’s best investors and entrepreneurs come together to celebrate the deals, firms and individuals that have defined the successes of the past 12 months.”

Poppy Gustafsson, COO of Darktrace, commented: “We are delighted to be named Europe’s Allstar company, out of such an impressive group. We’ve experienced over 600% revenue growth this year and raised $65 million in July to bring our valuation up to half a billion dollars. The European investment community understands the growth potential of technology companies and this award is testament to a new confidence in digital innovation and disruption.”

The event brought together 650 leading figures from every stage of the investment cycle along with Europe’s most successful digital entrepreneurs. The event was held in support of Founders4Schools, an organization helping students to have the opportunity to learn from some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs.

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 businesses.

The Investor Allstars Awards 2016 are sponsored by Orrick, Barclays, Berenberg, Bird & Bird, Calibre One, Cooley, Crowdcube, JAG Shaw Baker, OFF3R, Price Bailey, Shakespeare Martineau, Symvan Capital, Envestors and Taylor Wessing, alongside media partnerships with GrowthBusiness.co.uk and Bloomberg.

The full list of Award winners is:

VC Fund of the Year: Accel Partners
Exit of the Year: Entrepreneur First & Octopus Ventures for Magic Pony
Growth Fund of the Year: Highland Europe
Investor of the Year: Nenad Marovac, DN Capital
Buyout Fund of the Year: EQT Partners
Entrepreneur of the Year: Jose Neves, Farfetch
Service Provider of the Year: The UP Group
Corporate Development Team of the Year: ProSiebenSat.1
VCT of the Year: Octopus Ventures
Private Investor Network of the Year: Crowdcube
Seed Fund of the Year: Entrepreneur First
Specialist Debt Provider: Investec
Europe’s Allstar Company: Darktrace

To view the full shortlist for the awards, please click here

Enquiries
For any enquiry, please visit www.investorallstars.com or contact iman.crisby@gpbullhound.com

About GP Bullhound
As dealmakers in technology, GP Bullhound provides independent strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions and private placements to entrepreneurs, companies and investors. By combining a true passion for innovation with great access to global buyers and capital across Europe, US and Asia, GP Bullhound has completed transactions with many category leaders including Avito, Delivery Hero, Fjord, King.com, Pingdom, Pozitron and Spotify. The firm was founded in London in 1999 and today also has offices in San Francisco, Stockholm, Berlin, Manchester and Paris. For more information, please visit www.gpbullhound.com or follow @GPBullhound on Twitter.

About Growthbusiness.co.uk
GrowthBusiness is an invaluable resource for entrepreneurs and leaders of fast-growth enterprises. It offers a goldmine of practical information, insights and inspiration for established businesses which are achieving rapid expansion, helping them overcome obstacles to their growth and maximise their potential. More information on www.growthbusiness.co.uk