MENLO TIMES

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

B2Venture , an early-stage venture capital firm, supported by an unparalleled community of angel investors, led by partners Florian Schweitzer , Andreas Goeldi , Christian Schütz , Dominik Perisa , Gerrit Jurilj , Jan-Hendrik Bürk , Mathias Ockenfels , Sven Eppert , and others, has closed Fund V at the hard cap of EUR 150m, its largest fund to date. The raise marks a major milestone in a 25-year history, with Fund V accelerating the next wave of European tech leaders buildin

2150 , a venture capital firm investing in technology companies that are redefining cities and the industries that sustain them, led by partners and founders, Mikkel Bülow-Lehnsby, Jacob Bro, Christian Hernandez, Christian Joelck, and others, has announced the final close of Fund II. In 2021, 2150 launched with a €200 million fund to reimagine urban environments as climate tech emerged as a distinct venture category. Venture capital deployment surged between 2021 and 2022, w

Metavallon VC , a venture capital fund investing in early-stage technology startups with ties to Greece, led by Myrto Papathanou, Yorgos Mousmoulas, George Karantonis, and Demetris Iacovide, and others, has launched a new €5 million pre-seed fund. The Brain Gain Fund launches with a clear objective: to invest early in deep-tech startups founded outside Greece or in Greek university spin-outs, provided they commit to building R&D or product teams within the country. Demetris

Vi Partners , promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the Swiss economy, led by Founder and Senior Advisor Alain Nicod , Managing Partners Arnd Kaltofen , Diego Braguglia , Olivier Laplace , Gaetano Zanon , and others, has announced the first closing of its latest venture capital fund, which is targeting CHF 150 million. The first closing secured strong support from existing limited partners, reflecting confidence in the firm’s disciplined investment strategy and its es

Vanagon Ventures , purpose-built for sovereign-edge technology in Industrial, Nature, and Digital Infrastructure - to seize the €3T DeepTech opportunity in Europe, led by Sandro Stark, Susanne Fromm, and Axel Roitzsch, has announced the final closing of its €20 million Fund I. The fund targets a structural gap in venture capital by providing pre-seed capital to AI-native and deep tech companies with strong economic potential but non-traditional scaling models. It plans to ba

Ananda Impact Ventures , partnering with visionary founders who dare to challenge limits, shaping a future that’s better for people and planet alike, led by Partners Johannes Weber, Florian Erber, Zoe Peden, Bernd Klosterkemper, and others, has secured €73m in the first close of its fifth fund, targeting €108m. The fund, Ananda V, has attracted backing from a mix of returning and new limited partners, including the European Investment Fund , NRW.BANK , Investcorp-Tages , Mer

Lux Capital , a Venture Capital Firm, started in 2000, investing in opportunities at the frontier of science and technology that others find too hard, too early, or too confusing, led by Peter Hebert, Josh Wolfe, and others, has announced its largest fund to date, Lux Ventures IX, a $1.5B commitment to investing in the people turning sci-fi into sci-fact. Entire sectors, from aerospace and biotech to defense and industrials, are being rebuilt by a bold new generation of sci

Cloudberry , a venture capital firm based in Helsinki and London, led by Rene Kromhof, Veera Pietikäinen, Lawrence Lundy-Bryan, Tuomas Hollman, and Lukas Steinmann, has announced the launch of Europe’s first semiconductor venture fund with an initial close of €30 million. The fund invests in companies advancing the technological frontier with semiconductors, photonics, and advanced materials to advance compute, connectivity, sensing, and power. Cloudberry’s fund, anchored

Fortino Capital , a specialist European investor in B2B SaaS companies, led by Duco Sickinghe, Renaat Berckmoes, and others, has announced the final close of its third private equity fund (“Fortino PE III”) at an extended hard cap of €700 million, surpassing its initial €600 million target, with strong support from both existing and new institutional investors across Europe and the US. Fortino PE III is around 85% larger than its predecessor and attracted a diverse base of i