Meltwater Secures $65M Investment from Verdane for Media Monitoring Startup

Meltwater, known for media monitoring and business intelligence, gets an investment from Verdane, a PE firm, giving Verdane an 11% stake in Meltwater at a company valuation of €542 million ($592 million), valuing the stake at around $65 million. In addition to the investment in Meltwater, Verdane also gets a stake in HR firm Jobylon, which Meltwater says it is a bigger asset. The move underlines challenges in valuations for tech companies and how investors are making efforts to de-risk. Verdane’s investment in Fountain Venture is in line with a larger trend of tightening funding in Europe, with PE firms stepping up to fill the gap left by VCs. Verdane is focusing on de-risking by investing in a portfolio of assets rather than one business, and has expanded its investment efforts across Europe and beyond. Technologically, Meltwater, known for its AI and analytics capabilities, faces new competitive threats in the space. Despite these challenges, Meltwater remains confident in the potential of its AI-centric technology.