EMV Capital will manage a portfolio of 53 deep tech and life sciences companies as part of the acquisition.
EMV Capital, a UK-based venture capital investor focused on deep tech and life sciences, today became the investment manager of Martlet Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm focused on the Cambridge ecosystem.
Martlet Capital was launched in 2011 as the investment arm of aerospace and defence technology producer Marshall Group but became an independent firm in 2021. EMV Capital and its parent company NetScientific invested in Martlet Capital as part of that demerger.
Martlet Capital has a portfolio of 53 deep tech and life sciences businesses. EMV Capital will manage, on a discretionary basis, the portfolio and has acquired the operational business of Martlet Capital, folding it into a new subsidiary in NetScientific called Martlet Capital Management Limited.
Martlet Capital’s portfolio has a fair value of £23.3m ($29m). It adds to EMV Capital’s existing assets under management of £26m.
EMV Capital is exploring investor interest in launching two new funds under the Martlet Capital brand, tentatively called Martlet Growth Fund and Martlet Capital Fund II. Martlet Capital is not expected to make any material new investments before any such follow-on funds are raised.
Ilian Iliev, managing director of EMV Capital, said: “This important fund management mandate and acquisition of the Martlet business significantly increases the fee income and critical mass of our funds practice. We also gain ‘work in progress’ for the potential launch of two further funds under the Martlet brand and a supportive Martlet investor base.
“I thank Robert Marshall and the broader Martlet team for their collaborative approach in executing this carefully balanced transaction. Independently, EMV Capital has a long history in Cambridge, and I look forward to our work together to deliver returns for Martlet Capital shareholders and EMV Capital, and to further leverage and grow the Martlet brand.”
Thierry Heles
Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.
