Leading firms and personalities in European venture capital were recognised last night at the annual Investor AllStars awards, now in its eighth year.

Leading firms and personalities in European venture capital were recognised last night at the annual Investor AllStars awards, now in its eighth year.

Ben Holmes, a partner at Index Ventures collected the award for Venture Capital Personality of the Year. The judges described him as ‘a very active investor with a formidable reputation amongst other co-investors’ and he was also commended for his involvement in the sale of social gaming website Playfish for US$400 million (£255 million).

Other winners at the awards, held at the Park Lane Hilton and organised by investment banking firm GP Bullhound and GrowthBusiness publisher Vitesse Media, included Paris-based Sofinnova, for Venture Capital Fund of the Year, and Michael Elias of Kennet Partners, who bagged the Outstanding Contribution award.

Manish Madhvani, co-founder of GP Bullhound and chairman of the judging panel, said, ‘The past couple of years have been incredibly testing for the industry as a whole. However if you look deeper than all the negative headlines written about the industry, there are some very promising signals from new and old players.’

Vitesse Media’s executive chair Sara Williams comments, ‘These awards recognise the investors who are driving innovation and entrepreneurship, working hard to create the blue chips of tomorrow.’

For a full list of winners and shortlisted companies, click here.