Finnish VC, Lifeline Ventures, Raises 57 Million Euros

Helsinki-based Lifeline Ventures launched a new 57 million euro ($63 million) fund to invest in startups.

Founded in 2009, Lifeline Ventures has set up three funds and invested in 55 early stage startups with a number of successes.

“We’ve had exits to King.com (NonstopGames), Facebook (Moves app) and Unity 3D (Applifier). Before 2012, we were the first investors in Supercell. We started investing our own funds already in 2009 as angel investments,” said Timo Ahopelto, co-founder of Lifeline Ventures.

While the new fund focuses on Finnish startups, Ahopelto indicates an interest in global Health Tech startups.

“Our main focus is in Finland because we are local entrepreneurs and have a good idea of what happens locally. Outside of Finland, we invest in areas that we know well, like quantitative health where, for example, we invested in uBiome, located in the Valley.”

According to Finnish Industry Investment, a government-owned investment company and one of the investors in the new fund, Lifeline’s new fund is the largest of its kind in Europe.

“We want to be part of a company during its early days. The purpose of the fund is to support entrepreneurs throughout their lifespan. The most critical things take place during the first three years and we want to be there to give our support,” said Petteri Koponen, the co-founder of Lifeline Ventures in a press release.

The new money pool for startups also attracted a number of high profile investors, including two of the many founders of Supercell, a Finnish gaming giant.