By Claire Makin
The rollout of IMQubator’s $328 million seeding platform in January 2009 caused quite a stir in the industry. The venture attracted unusual attention not least because IMQubator requires its chosen managers to relocate the core of their business to its premises in Amsterdam.
Other notable features are the platform’s sponsor, APG, which manages one of the largest pools of pension assets in the world, and IMQubator’s ambition to attract innovative investment talent to the Netherlands. The idea is to “create something like Silicon Valley, but for pension funds and asset managers”, says Jeroen Tielman, who is chief executive officer of IMQ, the management company of the IMQubator platform, and one of the brains behind the project.
As for relocating, yes, managers have moved (one even from Singapore), and no, the requirement has not deterred far-flung managers from applying for seed...