MENLO TIMES

Pitchdrive, backing the boldest founders and build alongside them from day one, led by Boris Bogaert, Koen Christiaens, Wim Derkinderen, Jonas Dhaenens, Lorenz Bogaert, and the team, has announced the closing of its fourth fund at €60 million, strengthening its commitment to the Co-founder Capital model. Fund IV is fully privately backed, with no government or institutional money, unusual for a European fund of this size. Strong Investor Demand. The fund attracted significant

Gigascale Capital, backing early-stage companies rebuilding the physical economy for climate impact, led by Mike Schroepfer and the team, has announced Gigascale Capital Fund I, a $250 million fund to back founders rebuilding the physical economy for climate impact. Climate Impact Starts in the Physical Economy. Most global emissions originate from the physical economy, the energy systems, factories, supply chains, and infrastructure that produce, transport, and consume energ

Convective, investing in systems that keep the world running, led by Bill Clerico, Kat Mañalac, Mike Trapanese, Jay Ribakove, and Amy Brown, has announced $85 Million Fund II for Disaster Resilience. Fund II investments so far span supply chain, manufacturing, forestry, design, and grid resilience and include companies like Drafted, Edge, The Lumber Manufactory, and Voltair, and is backed by LPs like the Arbor Day Foundation, John & Patrick Collison, Pathstone, StepStone Grou

A*, guiding outliers from idea to IPO, led by Kevin Hartz, Bennett Siegel, Gautam Gupta, and the team, has announced A* III, a $450 million early-stage fund. A* was founded on a simple idea: becoming a founder’s first believer. Sector-agnostic but deeply specialized in seed investing, A* backs exceptional builders before consensus, traction, or even a product exists. The focus is driven not by market theses, but by conviction. As seed investing becomes increasingly crowded an

By Andra Bagdonaitė, General Partner at FIRSTPICK Most early-stage investment decisions are made with almost no data. There's no revenue to analyze. No market share to defend. No proven team history at the specific problem they're now attacking. And yet capital gets deployed, at speed, in volume, based on frameworks built for a world that increasingly no longer exists. The question every serious early-stage investor should be asking right now: what is actually driving convict

Wisdom Ventures, a leading early-stage VC fund investing in tech-enabled wellbeing, led by Bradley Horowitz, Cecily Mak, Soren Gordhamer, and the team, announced the close of its oversubscribed $77.7M Fund II. The new raise comes after the successful deployment of its $10 million Fund I. With the new fundraise, Wisdom Ventures will deepen its investment in startups building technologies that advance human resilience and wellbeing at scale. “In an era where AI is reshaping eve

Graduate Ventures, empowering founders through funding and support, is celebrating its 80th investment. The milestone backing goes to FrostByte, a Delft startup whose technology makes it possible to build quantum computers at a greater scale. The investment is part of a 1.3 million euro funding round, alongside Innovation Quarter, Paeonia Group, UNIIQ, and an angel investor. Since its founding in 2021, Graduate Ventures has invested in 79 startups from the ecosystems of TU De

Huan Ventures, backing the founders building the future of finance, led by Katie Haun and the team, has announced Fund II. Founders redefining financial assets operate at the frontier of evolving rules and technology. As capital and trust systems shift, those who can navigate both will shape the next era. Haun Ventures is backing this opportunity with $1 billion in new funds to support builders of the emerging economy. The Opportunity Ahead Core financial services, money, pay

DVC, a San Francisco–based VC focused on AI startups, led by Marina Davidova, Nick Davidov, and the team, has released its State of AI Report — a living, continuously updated analysis of the artificial intelligence landscape. According to the report, the market is mispricing AI. The State of AI report is based on a framework developed by DVC co-founders Nick Davidov and Marina Davidova over more than a decade of AI investing. It combines meta-analysis of leading industry rese

Eka Ventures , investing in founders creating positive system change, led by Camilla Dolan, Jon Coker, and the team, has announced the final close of its second fund at $107m (£80m), making Eka the UK’s largest early-stage impact VC investing across health, wellbeing, and sustainability. Why These Sectors, and Why Now Eka’s thesis is that the biggest opportunities lie in reshaping core systems, health, consumption, and access, where impact and returns align. Three shifts dri

SuperSeed , backing technical founders bringing AI to the physical world, led by Mads Jensen and Dan Bowyer, has launched Fund III, a seed-stage fund focused on Physical AI startups. The fund has secured a cornerstone commitment of up to £50 million from the British Business Bank , which invested through its Enterprise Capital Funds programme. Christine Hockley of British Business Bank said SuperSeed’s backing will attract private capital to support applied physical AI comp

Breakout Ventures , partnering with exceptional founders scaling scientific innovation to build the breakout companies powering our future, led by Managing Partners Lindy Fishburne and Julia Moore, has announced the close of its $114M Fund III. Given Breakout’s ongoing success, the new fund received strong support from returning investors, including Cortes Capital , S-Cubed Capital , The Kraft Group, Pinegrove Venture Partners , and an affiliate of LH Capital, and is pleased

Elaia , backing ambitious tech entrepreneurs with capital and care, has closed its third deep tech seed fund (DTS3) at €134 million, double the size of its previous deep tech seed funds. Developed in partnership with leading European research institutions, including PSL , INRIA , CNRS , the Barcelona Supercomputing Center , and also the Max Planck Foundation , DTS3 reflects strong investor confidence in Europe's growing deep tech ecosystem. Since its first close of €60 mi

Techstars , the original mentorship-driven accelerator, led by David Cohen and the team, has announced a strategic partnership with Global Brain , Japan's leading independent venture capital firm, led by Yasuhiko Yurimoto and others. The collaboration brings together two organizations that have long admired each other’s work and share a remarkably similar philosophy on supporting founders. The partnership allows Global Brain and Techstars to explore joint investment opportun

FIRSTPICK , a first-check VC fund for Baltic founders, led by Partners Jonė Vaitulevičiūtė, Dmitrij Sosunov, Andra Bagdonaitė, Marijus Andrijauskas, and the team, has launched a new €25 million fund to invest in early-stage Baltic startups, focusing on founders who may be overlooked by traditional VC criteria. Some early and successful investments include Samphire Neuroscience by Emile Radyte, Copla by Aurimas Bakas, and Holo. Backed by local entrepreneurs and private invest

OSS Ventures , a Paris-based venture studio building next-generation industrial software, led by Renan Devillieres and the team, has announced the first close of its new investment fund with a target of $80 million. The round is led by Decathlon PULSE and Teknor Apex, with participation from existing investors including Groupe Peugeot Frères . The fund serves as OSS Ventures’ strategic investment arm, dedicated to follow-on financing for companies emerging from the studio’s

Elaia , backing ambitious tech entrepreneurs with capital and care, has announced the first closing of its fifth Digital Venture Fund (DV5), converging at €120m, reaffirming its mission to back enduring, IP-driven ventures that define the future of European technology. Mimic Robotics, a Zurich-based physical AI company, marks DV5’s first investment, highlighting its focus on breakthrough technologies from leading European hubs. As demand grows for next-generation infrastructu

Mundi Ventures , backing bold and purpose-driven founders, led by Partners Javier Santiso, Lluis Vinas, Moises Sanchez, Rafaela Andrade, Rajeev Singh-Molares, and others, has just completed a €750 million first close for Kembara , its fifth fund and largest to date. Europe invests billions in early-stage climate startups, yet many stall at Series B, according to a recent report. New funds are emerging to address this gap, including Spain-based Mundi Ventures’ Kembara Fund

SlateVC , a growth-focused venture firm dedicated to driving the climate transition forward, led by Chloe Giard, Clement Buyse, Renaud Visage, and Sebastien Leger, has secured €132 million in the first close of its first growth fund, backed by EIF , Bpifrance , France 2030’s FNVI, BNP Paribas , and several family offices. Europe faces rising energy instability, high-cost legacy infrastructure, and import dependence, challenging competitiveness and sustainability. SlateVC

Voyager Ventures , investing in energy, industrials, and climate technology companies foundational to future abundance, led by Sarah Sclarsic, Sierra Peterson, and others, has announced Voyager’s $275M Fund II. Systemic instability is accelerating alongside rapid technological progress, with geopolitical tensions, climate risks, and global volatility intensifying as electrification, automation, AI, and advanced manufacturing converge. Emerging technologies have shifted from