EJF Capital wraps up $104m venture fund

• London-based EJF Ventures Partner Michael Cherepnin leads the fund
• Since its inception in January 2022, the fund has invested in 12 early-stage companies in the US, UK and Israel
• EJF managed about $6.6bn as of June 30

EJF Capital has closed a new venture fund at about $104 million. London-based EJF Ventures Fund LP invests in early-stage financial technology companies developing products across the financial services industry, with a particular emphasis on blockchain infrastructure, bank technology, and wealth management and capital markets software.

The fund began fundraising in March 2022 and held a first close on about $71 million at that time, according to Buyouts data (subscription required). EJF did not disclose the names of investors in the new fund, but said it “received support from both new and existing EJF investors.”

“The financial services sector is currently undergoing a fundamental, data-driven transformation which we believe creates compelling opportunities for early-stage investments to generate long-term capital growth,” EJF Ventures managing partner Jonathan Bresler said in a statement. “The power of blockchain technologies, coupled with the rapid pace of innovation in core banking and capital markets technology, excites us tremendously, and we look forward to executing on our deep pipeline of investment opportunities on behalf of our investors.”

London-based EJF Ventures partner Michael Cherepnin leads the fund. Since its inception in January 2022, the fund has invested in 12 early-stage companies in the US, UK, and Israel operating across financial services sub-sectors including payments infrastructure, enterprise risk management, capital markets access, small business lending, and consumer financial services.

EJF Capital is an alternative asset manager that managed about $6.6 billion as of June 30, 2023. The firm was founded in 2005 by Manny Friedman and Neal Wilson.