Claure Group Acquires Minority Stake in Tech Investor Hedosophia

(Bloomberg) -- Marcelo Claure’s Claure Group acquired a minority stake in the technology-focused investment firm Hedosophia, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

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The transaction involves an investment of less than 5% in both Hedosophia’s general partnership as well as its management company, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Marcelo Claure will join Hedosophia’s board as part of the transaction, they added.

Representatives for Claure Group and Hedosophia declined to comment.

London-based Hedosophia invests in internet and technology companies. The firm distributed more than $500 million to investors last year, driven by the sales of game developer Scopely to Savvy Games Group and Viva Wallet to JPMorgan Chase & Co., people with knowledge of the matter said.

Founded in 2012 and led by Chief Executive Officer Ian Osborne, Hedosophia became better known in the US in 2020 when the firm teamed up with Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital to raise a series of special purpose acquisition companies. Some of the Social Capital Hedosophia blank-check companies merged with targets to form Clover Health Investments Corp., Opendoor Technologies Inc. and SoFi Technologies Inc.

The firm, which has offices in Los Angeles and Beijing, has backed companies including Cvent Holding Corp., Nextdoor Holdings Inc., Velo3D Inc., ironSource Ltd. and N26, according to filings and data from PitchBook.

Claure, an alum of SoftBank Group Corp., has ties to several other asset-management firms. In December, he agreed to return to the Open Opportunity Fund as a co-owner, vice chairman and general partner. He’s also managing partner and chairman of Bicycle Capital, a growth-equity firm co-led by Shu Nyatta, and separately owns a stake in Brazil’s eB Capital, where he is also a managing partner and a vice chairman.

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