Eiger Capital to raise E200m

A new European fund of funds launches today in Luxembourg. Eiger Capital, led by Roger Pett, will offer institutional investors to buy into European technology via private equity funds of funds.

Eiger’s first initiative will be to raise a E200m pan-European venture capital fund starting in the autumn. 20 per cent of the target amount has already been committed by Financière Natexis Banque Populaires, the private equity investment holding of French bank Natexis Banque Populaires.

Pett, who in his last job headed up the venture capital division of the European Investment Fund in Luxembourg, will be working with Henning von Blanckenburg, who joins from Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, and Jonathan Leinmuller form Abbey National.

Pett said in a statement the idea of giving an international investor base access to small European technology venture funds was well timed. “In what many see to be a tough time for technology investing, we believe that the time is right to take advantage of the greater realism in the market place.'