Draper Fisher Jurvetson, one of Silicon Valley's best-known venture capitalists, will today signal further globalisation of the venture capital industry through the purchase of a stake in Esprit Capital Partners, the UK technology investment firm.

In one of the first deals of its type, DFJ has taken a minority stake in Esprit, which was formed by last year's merger of Cazenove Private Equity and Prelude Ventures to create one of Europe's biggest technology-focused VC firms. The London and Cambridge-based firm has $500m (£245m) of capital under management, and will be renamed DFJ Esprit.