Tyrus Capital, the hedge fund set to be launched by former Deephaven manager Tony Chedraoui today, has raised more than $800m from investors in one of the clearest signs to date of a resurgence of confidence in the hedge fund industry.

Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the number of hedge fund launches has fallen far from its peak. In the first half of 2007, there were more than 180 fund launches in Europe alone but the number fell to fewer than 50 in the first six months of this year, according to data from EuroHedge.

In spite of a recovery in performance and net investment over the past 12 months, the size of launches has also remained muted, with most raising between $100m and $200m. At the height of the boom, it was not untypical for hedge funds to raise ￡1bn in start-up capital.