KPMG has announced a move into the venture capital market, with the launch of a $100m (£62m) global investment fund that will provide early stage finance and support for small start up technology companies, the first such initiative by a major accountancy firm.
The new fund, which will be called KPMG Capital, will be headquartered in London but will invest globally in data and analytics businesses via strategic acquisitions, technology partnerships and other data and analytics capabilities. It will not be open to third party investment, and will not itself provide professional services.
Simon Collins, UK chairman of KPMG, said: 'Technology isn't following the old rules - innovation is happening in universities, in small informal businesses and through curious individuals. For a major company to harness this we have to be more agile - co-investing, sponsoring and partnering at early stages and encouraging technology entrepreneurs to be bold.'
Collins said KPMG planned to 'become the go to business partner in technology'. Earlier this year the firm opened a dedicated technology centre in the 'Silicon Roundabout' area in Shoreditch in London with the aim of supporting and promoting potential high growth companies in the capital.
KPMG Capital will be headed up by Mark Toon, who joined the firm in 2011 when KPMG took over EquaTerra, the IT advisory firm he helped to set up in 2003, and who is the global lead for KPMG's data and analytics practice.
Toon said: 'With more data produced and stored in the last two years than in the rest of human history, many businesses are looking for strategic and practical solutions to manage the volume, velocity and variety of this data revolution. KPMG Capital will enable us to develop or acquire opportunities in data and analytics quickly.'
The fund will be looking to support the development of technology solutions in sectors such as healthcare, financial services, energy and telecommunications, and will focus its investment in a number of business areas including enhancing business flexibility; finance; risk, regulation and compliance; improving workforce productivity; and customer and revenue growth.
'Through partnerships with technology and service providers, strategic partners and other third parties, we aim to accelerate innovation in data and analytics to bring potential solutions to clients - and to the market - faster,' Toon said.
