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

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

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

Builders , a Rotterdam-based venture studio led by Michael van Lier, Sharon Klaver, Darko Marković, Julia Bramer, and others, has raised €4.5 million from a group of leading entrepreneurs, exit-founders, and family offices, including Wouter Holtslag, Eric Carbijn, and Invent Capital. Builders, a venture studio focused on creating enterprise AI companies, partners with entrepreneurs from idea to launch, providing expertise in concept validation, hiring, funding, and growth. A

Sequoia Capital , the Apple of the Venture Capital World, has announced its latest venture fund and sixth dedicated seed fund. The firm reflects on a legacy of early partnerships that have grown into iconic companies such as Apple, Nvidia, Stripe, and Wiz, relationships that continue to fuel its belief in the transformative power of early-stage innovation. As Sequoia sees it, founders today stand at the edge of a generational opportunity. Artificial intelligence is reshaping

Rebalance , a Gurugram-based accelerator to build an ecosystem that helps women and diverse people build wealth and pay it forward, led by Aishwarya Malhi and Vikas Kumar, has announced its 9th cohort of 10 women-led startups. Since 2019, Rebalance has backed 30 startups across sectors, including climate, deep tech, healthcare, fintech, D2C, and biotech. With 85% of its portfolio led by women founders and 60% of its angel community made up of women investors, a first in Indi

Maia Ventures , a Milan-based early-stage VC backing the next generation of entrepreneurs in agrifoodtech, led by David Bassani, Andrea Galassi, Alice De Porcellinis, and Giancarlo Addario, has launched €55 million to back 20–25 companies, with initial tickets ranging from €0.5 million to €1.5 million. The fund has already made 6 investments, including Foreverland, Exolab Italia, Biorsaf, Lembas, Cappellini Veg Lab, and GenoGra. Limited partners include institutional investo