Venture capital firm Cathay Innovation Partners took a minority stake in Spanish venture capital firm Seaya Ventures, a Cathay spokesman confirmed.
The partnership boosts Cathay's investment platform and will give more startups access to capital, according to a joint news release Wednesday. Terms of the deal and the size of the stake were not disclosed.
Seaya focuses on early stage technology firms in Southern Europe, while Cathay Innovation specializes in investing in early growth technology startups globally.
The firms will work together to attract entrepreneurs that require access to global funding, the release said.
Seaya Ventures will broaden its investments beyond Southern Europe through the deal.
"With its global reach and unique corporate ecosystem across sectors, our partnership with Cathay will enable greater opportunity for startups to access global funding and potential partners, expand internationally and become European leaders," Beatriz Gonzalez, founder and managing partner at Seaya Ventures, said in the release.
"Seaya Ventures has played a critical role in the rising startup and technology landscape in Spain and across many Spanish speaking countries," Ming-po Cai, founder, chairman and CEO of Cathay Capital, said in the release: "We are extremely fortunate to count Beatriz and the entire team as trusted and knowledgeable partners that not only represents another bridge across continents, cultures and knowledge from Europe to China, the U.S., Africa, Latin America and beyond, but breaks the imaginary borders separating investment firms."
Cathay Innovation Partners is an affiliate of investment firm Cathay Capital.
Spokesmen at Seaya could not be reached to provide details about the deal.
Cathay Innovation has €1.5 billion in assets under management, while Seaya Ventures has €300 million in assets under management.
