2M Invest, which has been struggling to stay afloat since the start of last year, has laid off its employees in what is almost certainly the death rattle of the listed Danish private equity house.

The development at the IT and technology venture capital firm, which was once valued at Dkr2.2bn (€300m), is a stark illustration of the downturn being faced by all early stage investors in technology. The collapse in the initial public offerings market has left many venture capitalists stuck with companies they had hoped to float, while the deferral of new mobile phone technology killed the companies' hopes of sales revenue.