Growth Investor Highland Europe Raises Sixth Fund of €1.1 Billion
Growth-stage investor Highland Europe has closed its sixth fund at €1.1 billion and promoted two investors to Partner. According to the firm, it generated more than €1 billion in liquidity for its investors in 2026.
Since its founding in 2012, Highland Europe has raised a total of €3.75 billion across six funds, invested in more than 80 companies and guided 30 exits. The firm operates as an equal partnership with offices in London and Geneva and a team of 36, including 20 investment professionals.
Exits: Nexthink, Huel, EGYM, Bending Spoons
Recent exits include the sale of Swiss software provider Nexthink to a private equity sponsor at a valuation of $3 billion. The sale of British nutrition brand Huel to French food group Danone has been agreed. German fitness-tech company EGYM merged with Playlist in a transaction valued at $7.5 billion. Italian app group Bending Spoons listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker BSP and reached a market capitalisation of more than $18 billion.
Predecessor Fund V spans both consumer and enterprise holdings — among them smartphone maker Nothing, credit intelligence provider 9fin, healthcare AI assistant Nabla and AI orchestration platform n8n. Most recently, Highland led the $70 million Series B of in-house legal AI platform Wordsmith, participated in the $50 million Series B of enterprise AI company Unframe and in the $105 million Series D of precision-agriculture company Ecorobotix.
The companies and deals at a glance
| Company | Sector | Transaction | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nexthink | Digital employee experience | Sale to private equity sponsor | $3B |
| Huel | Consumer / nutrition | Agreed sale to Danone | n/a |
| EGYM | Fitness technology | Merger with Playlist | $7.5B |
| Bending Spoons | App group | NASDAQ listing (BSP) | > $18B market capitalisation |
| Wordsmith | Legal AI (in-house) | Series B, led by Highland | $70M |
| Unframe | Enterprise AI delivery | Series B | $50M |
| Ecorobotix | Precision agriculture | Series D | $105M |
| Nothing | Smartphone design | Fund V holding | n/a |
| 9fin | Credit intelligence | Fund V holding | n/a |
| Nabla | Healthcare AI assistant | Fund V holding | n/a |
| n8n | AI orchestration | Fund V holding | n/a |
Two new Partners
Helena Richardson and Jacob Bernstein have been promoted to Partner. Richardson joined Highland in 2016 and has backed companies including Ffern, ME+EM, Modulr and Huel. Bernstein joined in 2017 and invests in the enterprise segment, including Unframe, Zero Networks, Oritain and Descartes Underwriting.
“We are deeply grateful to our Limited Partners for their long-standing trust and commitment to Fund VI,” Sam Brooks, Partner at Highland Europe, is quoted as saying in a statement. That support, he said, allows the firm to keep backing Europe’s most ambitious founders at a moment when AI is reshaping every industry. Highland Europe was founded in 2012 as an equal partnership, and Richardson and Bernstein have each spent the past decade helping build the firm.
Highland Europe’s wider portfolio includes AMCS, Camunda, Featurespace, GetYourGuide, hyperexponential, Wolt and Zwift.
