Pario Ventures launches £45m fund to help startups amid market downturn

London-based Pario Ventures has launched a £45m fund to back early-stage startups and scaleup businesses in the UK or US amid the economic downturn.

“The current changes to the financial markets will have an impact on companies that had planned funding to break even. Dotcom and GFC in 2008 show that funding becomes increasingly harder to get and capital more expensive,” said David Murray-Hundley, CEO and co-founder, Pario Ventures.

Soaring inflation and rising interest rates caused by the war in Ukraine and other market uncertainties have caused a slowdown in later-stage funding, with some companies raising capital at significantly lower valuations than a year ago.

In addition to the Pario Ventures fund, it will launch its “unplugged” programme, which is similar to an accelerator for companies that are struggling with the financial downturn.

The venture capital firm also has offices in New York and Brussels.

Kevin Doyle, co-founder, Pario Ventures said: “There are also a lot of companies in Europe that have bootstrapped and are close to doing first revenues, that sit in a unique position.

“Not only can we offer the financial side, but we can also support our experienced team based here in the UK and the US, who have decades of experience going through downturns and the startup ecosystem.”

Founded in 2010, Pario Ventures has made more than 80 investments across the automotive, fintech, green tech and space tech sectors.

Its portfolio includes the likes of challenger bank Revolut, electric car company Rivian, What3words and Impossible Food Inc.

Last August Pario Ventures closed a £3.5m seed round, to grow its operations in London and the US,