Nortia Capital is moving forward with the expansion plan it launched a couple of years ago and has forged a new alliance with venture capital manager Seaya.
Greentech, agritech and circular economy are some of the activities that Nortia Capital, the investment arm of Manuel Lao Hernández, will focus on through the new alliance made within the alternative assets industry with Seaya Ventures, the asset management firm led by Beatriz González, an expert in launching and managing funds that seek profitability through start-up financing.
The holding company of the former Cirsa owner has become a “promoter” of the Seaya Andromeda Sustainable Tech Fund I, according to the prospectus filed with the CNMV of Friday. It is also clear from this text that the vehicle has been set up with the confidence of being able to collaborate with the new public fund Fond-ICO Next Tech, endowed with a fund of 2 billion euros to promote the take-off of scale ups, i.e. projects that have already passed the initial stages of evolution and that propose technological and disruptive solutions i the sectors they are aimed at.
Nortia Capital is thus making progress in the expansion plan it has drawn up to gain importance in the Spanish investment circuit. Over the last couple of years, with this roadmap, Nortia Capital has completed around fifteen transactions related to alternative assets (in the renewable energy fund Q-Energy or the sustainable infrastructure fund KC Impact), the real estate sector (the purchase of the Casa Seat building in Barcelona, among others) or the acquisition of stakes in listed companies, in which Merlin Properties (where it holds 8.16% of the shares) and Sacyr (3.05%) stand out.
Furthermore, at the end of 2021, the entrepreneur’s holding company entered into talks to agree to acquire a share in Arcano Partners, one of the biggest alternative investment and investment banking managers in Spain with more than 7 billion in assets under management, and where he would be considering taking a 15% share.
New strategy
Lao’s investment arm has now managed to incorporate a new strategy and angle of operations, venture capital, into the portfolio. To make the leap into this area of alternative assets, Lao has chosen one of the local industry benchmarks, Seaya Ventures, which since its launch in 2013 has made a significant mark in the sector, distinguishing itself by backing up to three Spanish unicorns (start-ups valued at $1 billion or more): Glovo, Cabify and Wallbox.
With the newly launched Seaya Andromeda Sustainable Tech Fund I, the team of professionals guiding the fund will seek to identify opportunities in innovative companies that have passed the initial pre-seed, seed and start-up stages and are at least three years old. The geographical radar is mainly located in Europe, according to the brochure.
In terms of sectors, the vehicle mainly focuses on four areas that are currently seen as having strong potential: digital solutions to promote the sustainability of the planet and renewable energies (greentech); technologies applied to agriculture and the food industry (agritech & sustainable food value chain); proposals related to the circular economy and the efficiency of waste management or recycling processes, among others; and, finally, technological tools that enhance transparency or enablers.
These activities and the type of company targeted by the new Seaya Andromeda Sustainable Tech Fund I coincide with the focus of Fond-ICO Tech. This is the new proposal made by the Spanish Official Credit Institute and Axis, the institution’s fund manager, which, with the support of the Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, aims to contribute to innovation in the Spanish economy, investing in digital projects with potential in collaboration with the private sector and thus following the pattern that the Fond-ICO Global fund of funds has been deploying in the market.
For Seaya, on the other hand, the new fund means reactivating the fundraising springs shortly after finishing the process of raising funds for the entity’s third vehicle -Seaya III-, which closed last December after raising 165 million euros. The prospectus for the newly launched Seaya Andromeda Sustainable Tech Fund I does not specify the amount of funds it intends to raise, although it is certain that being sponsored by Nortia Capital will facilitate the process.