Leuven, Belgium: 30 April 2021 – Capricorn Partners, the Leuven-based independent manager of venture capital and equity funds, announces the intermediate closing of its Capricorn Fusion China Fund (“CFCF”) securing more than € 30 million of commitments.

The Capricorn Fusion China Fund is the newest investment fund being managed by Capricorn Partners. Capricorn Partners took over the management of this fund from Fusion Partners on 1 October 2020.

The fund focuses on investments in companies which establish a link between the European and Chinese markets. The fund is looking for, on the one hand, innovative European companies which see a clear role for the Chinese market in their development (in sourcing, supply, production or commercialization). On the other hand, the fund will also invest in Chinese companies who want to enter the European market.

The CFCF fund can invest over the financing continuum — from scale-up to unlisted growth companies — and now has two participations:

• XenomatiX, a Belgian technology company which develops Lidars (a technology that uses laser pulses to determine the distance to objects) for the mobility market and who wants to be a key player in the race for autonomous vehicles, where the Chinese market offers enormous potential;
• Xi’an Thiebaut, a Belgian-Chinese joint venture which, as supplier for the Chinese pharma and cosmetics industry, makes and commercializes aluminium tubes in northern China (Xi’an).

The interim closing increases the fund’s capital from € 12,925,000 to € 30,300,000. This is a key step on the way to the fund’s objective of raising € 75 million before the end of 2021. The Capricorn Fusion China Fund is strengthening its capital with the entry of Quest for Growth and the Federal Participation and Investment Company (FPIM), which will also have a seat on the Board of Directors, as well as with the entry of several private investors.

Paul Van Eynde, Senior Investment Manager at Capricorn Partners, said: “We are grateful for the intermediate closing of the fund as it shows confidence in our rather unique investment strategy, and as the increased size of the fund allows us to participate in more sizeable investment opportunities on the bridge between Europe and China”.

Steven Levecke, Senior Investment Manager at Capricorn Partners, added: “We are very happy with the first investments in (China-based) Xi’An Thiebaut and (Belgium-based) XenomatiX, and are confident that the growth of the fund, alongside our expanding network, will help us to execute some of the other promising investment opportunities that we are currently analyzing”.