AltaIR ABO, $300M and late stage startups: Igor Ryabenkiy's fifth, anniversary, fund AltaIR Capital

A famous business angel Igor Ryabenkiy has launched a new $300M fund to invest in IT startups. Of the total, $50M has already been raised, and the rest is planned to be raised within a year. The names of the most media or “generous” investors are not disclosed, but it is known that the launch of AltaIR ABO was supported by partners of previous structures.

The fund’s investors are targeting the traditional areas of AltaIR Capital: FinTech, Productivity tools, InsurTech, Digital Health, EdTech and AI. At the same time, the funding horizon will be up to 3 years, and the first exits are expected during the first year of operation.

The new fund plans to support and help international startups that are already operating and will select a total of 30–50 projects. The selection will range from the parent structure’s portfolio companies to major deals, which AltaIR Capital’s reputation and ties to global investment funds will provide access to.

This is a new stage for AltaIR Capital, as until now the four previous funds have concentrated on investing in early-stage projects. Among the most prominent companies in the portfolio are platform Miro, financial advisor Albert, HR-assistant Turing and other technology solutions.

According to Ryabenky, he took part in financing the new fund personally, as he has done before with previous structures. The business angel is known for his investments in such projects as Carprice, Profi.ru, LinguaLeo and others, as well as being the founder of the AltaClub venture club. Last one allows non-professional investors and aspiring business angels to invest with AltaIR Capital.

This interest specifically in the later stages is explained by the founder as a desire to support portfolio companies in the later stages of growth, as well as the emergence of the first unicorns. Moreover, experts are expecting an IPO boom this year, especially given the growth of funds raising through IPOs in 2020 ($331.3B versus $199.2B a year earlier — PwC data). At the same time, despite the reduction in investment activity due to the pandemic, trends show an increase in interest in the areas of online education, delivery and telemedicine.