MENLO TIMES

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

MD One Ventures , Europe's first Defence and National Security Venture Capital, led by Will McManners, Kelvin Au, Edward Ebbern, and others, and Randox , a global diagnostics and healthcare company from the UK and Ireland, have announced  the launch of  Randox for Builders , a security and biotech incubator and accelerator for UK and European founders and their teams. Alongside funding, founders gain immediate access to world-class scientific, R&D, and commercial expertise, g

Aneli Capital , investing in visionary startups to revolutionize industries and drive transformative change, led by Daiva Rakauskaitė, Jacek Blonski, Nerijus Baliunas, Sabina Siniciene, and others, has announced  €35 million fund to support early-stage startups in the Baltics, Poland, and other Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, that will primarily focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as robotics, space, photonics, and energy startups, to

betacluster Ventures , fueling early-stage smart data startups from the beta phase to worldwide success, led by Florian Steger, Gabriela Brodzińska-Drozd, and Cezary Iwan, has launched  betacluster Poland.One , a new early-stage fund under the PFR Starter program with a target capitalisation of €19 million (PLN 81.25 million). The fund will back technology startups primarily from Poland that are building solutions for the Smart Data Economy, where intelligent data systems, AI

FoodLabs , founded with the commitment to revolutionize the food system and improve both planetary and human health, led by Christophe Maire, Patrick Noller, Thilo Winter, Bastian Stöhr, Florian Breiner, and others, has closed  its Third Fund of €105m to invest in early-stage food tech startups in Europe.  Founded in 2016, FoodLabs invests in software and hardware startups driving a healthier, more sustainable food system. Its portfolio includes Formo (animal-free cheese), Kl

Indico Capital Partners , supporting the best, most unique, and scalable high-tech and sustainable companies, led by Stephan de Moraes, Ricardo Torgal, Cristina Fonseca, Rui Rodrigues, Sofia Egídio, André Almeida Santos, and others, launched  its 6th fund, Indico VC Fund III, with a capital target of €125 million,   a pivotal moment for the firm and the entire Southern European VC ecosystem.  The fund has successfully secured a major anchor commitment of €30 million from The

Nexus Venture Partners , backing extraordinary founders at seed and Series A, helping them build product-first companies that redefine their categories, led by Abhishek Sharma, Anand Datta, Anup Gupta, Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Pratik Poddar, Suvir Sujan, and others, has   announced  the closing of Nexus Ventures VIII, a $700 million fund to back exceptional founders building AI, enterprise software, consumer and fintech startups at inception, seed, and Series A stages in the US

The Flywheel , the Thessaloniki(Greece)-based Venture Studio, led by Kostas Fetfatsidis and Dimitrios Kourtesis, will start  its first cohort in Q1 2026 with five paid Founder-in-Residence placements and up to €300k in funding, to build Europe’s next industrial AI champions. A new venture studio, The Flywheel, offers professionals with deep industry or technical expertise a structured path to creating industrial AI companies in Europe. Based in Thessaloniki, the studio co-fou

Female Founders Fund , investing in the exponential power of exceptional female talent, led by Anu Duggal, Julie Cerick, Zabreen Khan, and Layla Alexander, has raised  its fourth fund at $29 million, raised between November 2023 and this month. It brings Female Founders Fund’s total capital under management to $140 million across five funds, including a $14 million opportunity fund. LPs in the newest fund include firms headed by notable women: Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ve

Expedition Growth Capital , a growth equity firm empowering bootstrapped
software founders, led by Oliver Thomas, Will Sheldon, Steve Twomey, David Olsson, and others, has raised  its third fund of $375 million, continuing its focus on partnering with rapidly growing companies from across Europe that have built high-quality products and customer bases, without venture capital. Since launching in late 2020, Expedition has assembled a portfolio of 17 bootstrapped software leade

6 Degrees Capital , an early-stage investor backing companies at Seed & Series A, with substantial follow-on capital available for later rounds, led by Filip Coen, Maxime Vanderstichele, Lucas Stoops, Wouter Volckaert, Thomas Olszewski, Thibault D'hondt, and others, has closed  a €154 million fund, with the fund backing enterprise software, AI and fintech startups at seed and Series A stages. Fund III marks 6DC’s third fund since its launch in 2023. The vehicle will write ini

Future Energy Ventures , supporting ready-to-scale start-ups active in Europe, Israel, or the USA whose mission is to accelerate the energy transition and decarbonize society, led by Jan Lozek, Veronique Hördemann, Patrick Elftmann, Ohad Mamann, and others, has announced  the closing of Future Energy Ventures Fund II with a volume of €205 million, along with a dedicated capital fund for Italy of €30 million. With this milestone, FEV becomes the largest European advisor for...

Baobab Ventures , empowering early-stage, deep-tech founders to reach momentum, led by Carles Reina, has launched a $15 million solo GP fund to back pre-seed and seed stage founders building startups across AI, robotics, and defence. The fund has already backed companies like Murphy , Theker , Altan , and Omnia . The Fund is backed by institutional LPs Cendana Capital, Isomer Capital, RSJ Investments, Emergence Ventures, and Cyber Fund. Partners from Concept Ventures, Credo V

Firgun Ventures , the first VC firm focusing on Series A/B quantum companies, led by Kris Naudts, MD, PhD and Zeynep Korutürk, has launched  a $250 million venture capital fund dedicated entirely to early-growth-stage quantum companies and announced its first close at $70 million.  Backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, the fund is structured to support quantum companies in advancing from early pilot phases to deployable products positioned for use across sectors and regio

Sofinnova Partners , a leading European life sciences venture capital firm based in Paris, London, and Milan, led by Antoine Papiernik , Henrijette Richter , Graziano Seghezzi , Anta Gkelou , Maina Bhaman , Karl Naegler , and others, has announced  the close of its latest flagship fund, Sofinnova Capital XI, at €650 million ($750 million), greatly exceeding its initial target. Sofinnova Capital XI will support a new wave of biopharma and medtech companies developing breakthro

Vendep Capital , a B2B SaaS VC in the Nordics and Baltics, led by Sakari Pihlava, Tanja Alanen, Jupe Arala, Sami Ahvenniemi, Taru Wahlroos, and others, has announced  a €80 million Fund IV. The fund has already reached its €80 million target, with fundraising open until April 2026. Since 2013, Vendep Capital has built one of the strongest SaaS track records in the Nordics, backing breakout companies such as AlphaSense , Hostaway , Leadfeeder , and Happeo . The new fund is str

Backed VC , a London-based venture capital fund, led by Andre de Haes, Alex Brunicki, Tom Hopkins, Clare Hunter, and others, has closed its third fund, Backed 3, at its $100 million cap, alongside making its 100th investment.  Backed partners with outlier founders building generational frontier technology companies rooted in fundamental technological or conceptual breakthroughs. After two high-performing funds, including a top-decile first fund, Backed is expanding with Backe

Rubio , a leading impact venture fund, led by Alexandros Matthiessen, Willemijn Verloop, Helmer Schukken, Machtelt Groothuis, Warner Philips, and others, has launched  its third Impact Fund with over €70 million in commitments.    The capital will be deployed to support thirty ambitious impact companies developing scalable solutions to the climate crisis and social inequality, future leaders like Sympower stabilizing the energy grid, NoPalm transforming sustainable food, and