Ruth Foxe Blader stepped down from her role as partner in the Anthemis Group after nearly seven years to start her own business venture, Fox CapitalTechCrunch learned exclusively today.
Blader is joined by former Anthemis bandmate Kyle Perez. Sophie Winwood acts as an operating partner. Winwood was a co-founder in the past WVC: Ean organization committed to advancing the “inclusion, empowerment and integration of VC globally,” with Blader.
Over the years, Blader says it has led investments in more than 50 fintech startups, including Lemonade, Branch, Elevate, Flock, Mesh and Amplify.
The desire to invest independently was the main driver behind Blader’s decision to leave London-based Anthemis, Blader told TechCrunch. The investor says she got a taste of what it was like after she and Winwood started WVC:E in April 2022.
Foxe will continue to invest on behalf of Anthemis, serving as a sub-advisor to the company and essentially managing the vehicle she was hired to run in 2017. When all that capital is deployed — Blader predicts she’ll stop writing checks to startups this year from Anthemis funds — Foxe Capital will focus on fundraising. Meanwhile, Foxe Capital is being compensated for continuing to manage the fund on behalf of Anthemis, according to Blader.
Anthemis continues to have a financial interest in that vehicle, but does not own any part of the management company, and will only have a continuing financial interest in Foxe Capital if it chooses to be an LP when the company raises money in the future, according to Blader.
An Anthemis spokesperson confirmed the move, sharing via email: “Ruth wanted to be an independent manager. Anthemis proudly supports her. He will continue to support us as an investor in Anthemis’ current funds.”
While Blader currently travels back and forth between France and New York (Blader has lived in Europe/New York for 15 years), Foxe Capital is based in New York. Its investments will be global, with the US as its home market.
“We have the most familiarity [outside of the U.S.] with Europe, but they have also made investments in India, Cameroon and LatAm,” he told TechCrunch. “We will look to invest opportunistically globally.”
Restructuring and a failed SPAC
Anthemis has had its share of turmoil—and turnover—of late.
Last April, TechCrunch broke the news that Anthemis Group had completed a restructuring that resulted in the release of 16 employeesor about 28% of its staff.
A spokesman for London-based Anthemis said at the time that the move was an effort to “better reflect current market conditions and shape the business for future growth” against its “strategic priorities”.
Also last May, TechCrunch reported that Anthemis Group was trying to raise $200 million for a third fund. It had been on the market since 2022 and had only secured commitments of just $36.4 million. The company separately had to cancel plans for the SPAC gathering in late April.
Over the past 18 months, Anthemis has also seen a few portfolio companies stumble. In November 2022, the controversy surrounding the sudden resignation of three of Pipe’s co-founders, including its CEO, raised eyebrows. And in 2023, digital bank Daylight focused on LGBTQ+ hit with a lawsuit by three former employees “accused of age and wage discrimination, whistleblower retaliation and fraud.” The startup shut down later in the year.
The company’s 2023 restructuring wasn’t the first time it saw a management shakeup. Anthemis also made headlines in 2018 when its then CEO and co-founder Nadeem Shaikh resigned after reportedly becoming a target complaint of sexual harassment by a female employee.
Blader is not the first fintech-focused investor to go solo in recent years.
Early last year, Peter Ackerson left fintech-focused Fin Capital for the co-founding of a new company, Audere Capital. It is not yet clear if Akerson left voluntarily or was forced out. A source familiar with internal affairs at Fin Capital claimed there was tension between Ackerson and managing partner and founder Logan Allin over alternative finance startup Pipe – an investment Ackerson led and sat on the board of. Audere has invested in five startups, according to PitchBook — only one of which is focused on financial services.
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