Dublin and London-based Frontline Ventures has announced a new $80 million fund designed to assist U.S. tech companies expanding into Europe.
With this new fund, Frontline Ventures now has $200 million under management. The firm’s main focus is on growth-stage B2B companies, investing up to $5 million per company alongside lead investors in later-stage rounds.
The Frontline X Fund: Aiming to Address Common Challenges Facing US Tech Companies Expanding into Europe
Frontline Ventures believes that flawed go-to-market strategies and weak local talent networks mean that U.S. companies tend to lose too much money in foregone revenue when they expand into Europe. The team aims to address this by providing guidance and support to help companies navigate the complexities of expanding into the European market.
Ireland: A Crucial Landing Point for US Tech Companies Expanding into Europe
Ireland has become a crucial landing point for U.S. tech companies looking to expand into Europe, particularly due to its low tax regime. With the UK’s departure from the EU, Dublin and Ireland are expected to become even more attractive propositions.
Frontline Ventures’ Success Stories
Frontline has backed several successful companies in their Seed Funds I and II, including Britebill (acquired by Amdocs), Logentries (acquired by Rapid7), and Orchestrate (acquired by CenturyLink). Most recently, Frontline was an early investor in Pointy, which was acquired by Google last month.
The Leadership Team Behind Frontline X
The new fund will be led by partners Stephen McIntyre and Brennan O’Donnell. Prior to joining Frontline, McIntyre set up Twitter’s European headquarters as the vice president of EMEA, building its EMEA business from scratch. He also ran a substantial part of Google’s ads business.
O’Donnell joins Frontline X as a partner in San Francisco. He previously held multiple go-to-market leadership roles at Google in the U.S. and Europe and executive roles at Yammer, SurveyMonkey, Euclid, and Airtable.
A Statement from McIntyre
"We’ve benchmarked the best of B2B software and seen that, by the time a company goes public, 30% of its revenue should be coming from Europe. But even the biggest names in tech fail to get there because of avoidable mistakes when they land. We’ve learned about international expansion the hard way as operators. The good news is that most of these problems are known and solvable."
Frontline X’s Portfolio
The fund has already invested in several companies, including:
- TripActions: a company that raised from Andreessen Horowitz at a $4 billion valuation
- People.ai: which raised $100 million in Series C funding together with Lightspeed, Andreessen Horowitz, and ICONIQ
- Clearbanc: which raised $50 million in Series B funding
Conclusion
Frontline Ventures’ new fund is designed to address the common challenges faced by US tech companies expanding into Europe. With its experienced leadership team and successful track record, Frontline X is well-positioned to help companies navigate the complexities of the European market.
