London VC firm Notion Capital has raised $120 million to back European cloud computing startups

London VC firm Notion Capital's third fund - which will back European cloud computing startups offering their software through a subscription-based model - just raised $120 million.

This is the fund's first close, meaning it can now start making investments. It hopes to bring in another $30 million before its final close at the end of the year, meaning that Notion Capital as a whole will be in control of $300 million in potential company funding.

Notion Capital's two other funds have already invested in 33 companies, such as NewVoiceMedia, Tradeshift and CurrencyCloud. Its new fund is still backed by the European Investment Fund and British Business Bank, as well as other individual investors and family offices, and will continue to back Series A firms.

Brothers Ben and Jos White, along with partners Stephen Chandler, Chris Tottman and Ian Milbourn, are best known for founding and building MessageLabs, which became the biggest exit in Europe for a software-as-a-service company at its $700m sale to Symantec.