DVCA’s annual summit gathers prominent people from the entire industry for an entire day of debates about the current and future states of the industry, and this year, the theme of the summit was UN’s global compact goals. The annual summit also forms the setting for announcing the award-winners of Private Equity Fund of the Year, Venture Fund of the Year, and the special DVCA prize.

Axcel won the award for Private Equity Fund of the Year after a successful year with strong exits and promising acquisitions. Besides that, the jury emphasized Axcel’s successful implementation of the generational change with Christian Schmidt-Jacobsen on the frontline along with the new team’s ability to create high returns on current investments.

It was also accentuated that the prize was not only awarded to Axcel due to prior success but also because Axcel is well-equipped for future accomplishments:

“It is hard to imagine that Axcel’s success should dissolve in the future. One reason for this is the active investments in Axcel V with three exciting investments in European Sperm Bank, Phase One, and SteelSeries in the past year alone. Another aspect to highlight is Axcel fundraising and the establishment of their next fund being the largest one Axcel has yet to experience. It is therefore very well deserved that Axcel is awardee PE Fund of the Year”.

The award for Venture Fund of the Year went to EQT Ventures, which established its first fund of 556 mil. Euro just three years ago, and which has managed to almost double returns on investments in the meantime. The special DVCA prize was awarded to business angel and venture investor, Gregers Kronborg, as a token of appreciation for his efforts in making the venture industry prominent both domestically and internationally.