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The official channel of V3V Ventures. We share updates on our investments, portfolio companies, and fund activities. Buy Ads: @strategy (this is our only account).
👥 Halogen Ventures Closes $30M to Back the Future of Family
Jesse Draper’s Halogen Ventures has closed its $30M Fund III, doubling down on its mission to fund early-stage, female-led startups building products for modern families. From fertility to fintech to caregiving, Halogen is betting big on what it calls the “infrastructure of the household economy.”
✅ Inside the fund
• Fund size: $30M, following $10.4M Fund I (2018) and $21M Fund II (2021)
• Focus: Early-stage (pre-seed to Series A) companies improving family life — health, care, education, finance
• Founder filter: Invests only in companies with at least one female founder
• Notable past bets: Teal Health (at-home cervical screening), Vibrant Planet (wildfire risk management), Flex
🌍 What makes Halogen different
• Dedicated to reshaping the “invisible labor” economy — tackling overlooked but essential sectors
• Founded by fourth-gen VC Jesse Draper, with a platform built to support women beyond the check
• Deep LP and founder networks across media, family offices, and gender-lens investing circles
🚀 Why it matters
• The care economy is surging — with rising demand for solutions across parenting, aging, and household wellbeing
• Women-founded startups still receive <3% of U.S. VC dollars; funds like Halogen are working to change that
• As families evolve, so do their needs — creating room for massive innovation in how we live, raise kids, and care for loved ones
Halogen isn’t chasing trends — it’s building long-term infrastructure for the people and systems that hold society together.
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🐄 Antler Bio Uses Gene Expression to Boost Dairy Yields
Antler Bio, a UK- and Ireland-based AgriTech startup, has raised a $4.3M Series A led by The First Thirty Ventures, with support from Endgame Capital and Generation-RE. Its EpiHerd platform analyzes gene expression in dairy cows to predict performance, improve health, and increase productivity — helping farmers turn biology into profits.
✅ Inside the round
• $4.3M Series A led by The First Thirty Ventures
• Joined by Endgame Capital and regenerative ag syndicate Generation-RE
• Total funding now ~$8.5M including grants
• Funds will expand operations across Europe and scale EpiHerd to more farms
🍃The EpiHerd advantage
• Detects gene-expression patterns linked to stress, nutrition, and fertility — before symptoms appear
• Used by 100+ farms across the UK, Nordics, and Ireland
• Delivers up to 22% higher milk yield, 6% more fat, and 5% more protein
• Farmers report 7:1 ROI from better herd health, longevity, and output
🔬 Why it matters
• Founded by scientists Maria Jensen and Nathalie Conte to bring genomics into everyday farming
• Arrives as Europe’s dairy sector faces pressure from farm closures and productivity declines
• Investors see Antler Bio as part of the “AgriHealth” movement — blending biotech, sustainability, and food resilience
By turning genetic insight into everyday decisions, Antler Bio is building the next-generation toolkit for high-performance, sustainable dairy farming.
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🇨🇿 KAYA VC Closes €80M Fund to Power Central Europe’s Next Wave of Startups
Prague-based KAYA VC has closed its fifth fund at €80 million, doubling down on its mission to back early-stage founders across Central and Eastern Europe. With unicorns like Rohlík and Docplanner already in its portfolio, KAYA is one of the region’s most influential — and quietly consistent — investors.
✅ Inside the fund
• Fund size: €80M, bringing total AUM to ~€300M
• Focus: Seed to Series A, across Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and wider CEE
• Portfolio: 40+ companies, including Rohlík (grocery), Docplanner (healthtech), Better Stack (dev tools)
• LP mix: ~75% private capital, with support from entrepreneurs and family offices
• Ticket size: Starts at €1M, with follow-on potential
🌍 What makes KAYA different
• Deep roots in the CEE region, with offices and networks across major hubs
• Invests in verticals like fintech, healthtech, marketplaces, deep tech
• Emphasizes founder support, operational depth, and long-term scaling
• Strong cross-border mindset — helping CEE startups go global
🚀 Why it matters
• CEE is still an underfunded but high-potential market — and KAYA is filling the gap
• Their unicorn track record shows the region can produce global winners
• As local talent matures, funds like KAYA are key to retaining and scaling innovation at home
KAYA is proving that you don’t need to be loud to shape a startup ecosystem — just smart, patient, and relentlessly founder-focused.
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🗣️ Wispr Flow Secures $30M to Scale AI Dictation Across Devices
Wispr Flow, the AI-powered dictation startup founded by Tanay Kothari, has raised a $30M Series A led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from NEA, 8VC, and notable angels including Pinterest’s Evan Sharp and Carta’s Henry Ward. The company is building a cross-platform voice interface for productivity and communication.
✅ Inside the deal
• Round: $30M Series A led by Menlo Ventures (Matt Kraning joins the board)
• Backers: NEA, 8VC, and angels from Pinterest, Carta, Opal, Lindy, and more
• Use of proceeds: Expand platform support, launch enterprise features, grow headcount
• Total funding to date: ~$56M including earlier pre-seed and seed rounds
🌎 Why it matters
• Wispr Flow is positioned as a fast, lightweight voice interface across Mac, Windows, and iOS
• Supports 104 languages and has seen rapid traction, especially among non-technical users
• Aims to evolve into a context-aware assistant that can execute tasks—not just transcribe
📉 Strategy and market context
• Monetizes via freemium and paid tiers; growing 50% MoM and approaching profitability
• Big Tech’s distribution strength pushed the team to raise now and stay competitive
• Long-term goal: power voice-first computing with future hardware and deep integrations
Wispr Flow is turning voice into a daily workflow tool—riding the AI wave to make speech the new keyboard.
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🇵🇱 Movens Fund 2 Lands €10M from EBRD to Fuel CEE Tech Scaleups
Movens Capital, a Warsaw-based VC firm, has secured a €10M commitment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) into its second fund. Movens Fund 2 targets early-stage tech startups across Poland and Central & Eastern Europe, with a focus on software, deeptech, and digital health.
✅ Inside the fund
• Target: €60M Fund II, with €10M anchor from EBRD
• Stage: Seed to Series A; ticket size ranges from €500K–€3M
• Focus: High-growth CEE startups in software, fintech, medtech, and AI
• Strategy: Equity and quasi-equity investments to drive regional innovation
🌍 What makes Movens stand out
• Poland-first strategy, with broader CEE mandate
• Team has strong local founder networks and operational experience
• Prior fund backed 20+ companies, including Booksy and Vue Storefront
• Now backed by EBRD under its €200M Early-Stage Innovation Facility II
🚀 Why it matters
• CEE startups face a chronic early-stage funding gap despite strong tech talent
• Movens aims to bridge local capital with global growth potential
• EBRD’s investment boosts institutional credibility and LP momentum
As Europe’s venture market matures, Movens is positioning itself as a key launchpad for the next generation of global CEE startups.
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🌍 PXN Group Forms £670M Platform to Back the UK’s Regional Tech Champions
PXN Group, formed from the merger of Manchester’s Praetura Ventures and Edinburgh’s Par Equity, launches with £670M AUM to back early-stage and scale-up startups across the North of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• AUM: £670M platform combining venture equity, EIS/VCT products, and lending
• Focus: Regional tech startups in SaaS, fintech, healthtech, climate tech, AI, and robotics
• Stage: From £200K to £8M across early and growth stages
• Structure: Active support model with hubs in Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, and London
• Track record: 115+ portfolio companies incl. Current Health, Modern Milkman, Symphonic
🌐 Why it matters
• Tackles UK’s capital imbalance — 80%+ of VC flows to London/Southeast
• Builds a national venture backbone outside the capital
• Leverages public/private capital like British Business Bank and NPIF II
• Positioned as a “regional champion” to rival metro-dominant firms
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• FCA approval pending for formal merger under PXN Group banner
• Multiple fund mandates require alignment across legacy structures
• Strategy hinges on exits recycling into local ecosystems — still rare in many regions
PXN Group signals a bold bet on regional innovation — and could become the UK’s blueprint for rebalancing venture capital.
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🔴 Orbit Capital Launches €100M Fund to Fuel CEE Tech Scaleups with Venture Debt
Orbit Capital, the Prague-based alternative lender, has launched a new €100M venture debt fund to support growth-stage tech companies across Central and Eastern Europe. The fund will provide non-dilutive capital to scaleups navigating the post-Series A and B stages.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Size: €100M venture debt fund, targeting software and tech-enabled scaleups
• Focus: Central and Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on Poland, Czech Republic, and Romania
• Ticket size: €6M–15M per deal, typically to companies with €8M+ ARR and ~30% YoY growth
• Structure: Non-dilutive debt with strategic support for capital planning
• Backers: Mix of institutional LPs and regional financial players
🌍 Why it matters
• Equity funding in CEE is growing, but venture debt remains underdeveloped—Orbit fills a crucial capital gap
• Helps startups extend runway and delay dilution, particularly in capital-efficient business models
• Builds local alternatives to US/UK debt lenders, with better alignment on regional risks and growth patterns
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Venture debt can add pressure to cash flow—Orbit targets post-product-market fit firms with stable ARR
• Backed by experienced operators (ex-McKinsey, Credo Ventures), Orbit positions itself as a strategic lender, not just capital provider
• Fund aims to deploy across 12–14 companies, building a diversified portfolio across SaaS, fintech, and B2B marketplaces
Orbit’s new fund offers a powerful tool for CEE founders scaling past Series A—bridging the funding gap with smart, founder-friendly debt.
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🇧🇪 ScaleFund III Launches to Back Belgium’s Next Tech Scale-Ups
Claire Munck, one of Belgium’s most active early-stage investors, has launched ScaleFund III with a €12M first close toward a €30M target. The fund focuses on post-seed to Series A tech companies across Benelux and France—especially in digital transformation, cleantech, and deeptech.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Fund: €30M ScaleFund III, with €12M already closed
• Focus: Post-seed to Series A, investing €100K–€1M + follow-on
• Stage gap: Targets startups too big for angels, not yet VC-ready
• Backing: Supported by BeAngels, 550+ active co-investors & venture experts
• Portfolio: Prior funds backed Wooclap, Passbolt, Resortecs
🌍 Why it matters
• ScaleFund III aims to plug the “missing middle” in European tech funding
• Offers hands-on involvement: board roles, scaling help, and governance
• Unlocks capital and strategic help for founders navigating their first inflection point
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Smaller fund size means careful check selection and high conviction bets
• Competes with growing micro-VC ecosystem and corporate seed funds
• Strong LP alignment and founder-first positioning help differentiate in the region
ScaleFund III is designed to turn Europe’s underfunded scale-ups into sustainable tech success stories — with deep local roots and global ambition.
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🏠 Canary Raises $80M to Power AI-Driven Hotel Operations
Canary Technologies, the hotel management startup co-founded by Harman Narula and SJ Sawhney, has secured an $80M Series D to expand its AI-enabled guest experience platform. The round was led by Brighton Park Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Insight Partners, and Fidelity.
✅ What’s inside the round
• Round: $80M Series D, following strong international growth
• Platform: mobile check-in, guest messaging, digital tipping, and upsells — all in one stack
• AI edge: LLM-powered chatbot delivers fast, contextual replies across text, web, and voice
• Reach: 20,000+ hotels across 100+ countries, including Marriott, Rosewood, Wyndham
• Use of funds: hiring, deeper AI integration, and global expansion
🌍 Why it matters
• Hotels face staffing shortages and shifting guest expectations
• Canary helps properties digitize operations without ripping out legacy systems
• Replaces fragmented tools with a unified, guest-first experience layer
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Competes with Cloudbeds and Revinate — differentiation hinges on AI execution
• Growth driven by both enterprise chains and independent hotels
• Series D seen as a sign that vertical SaaS + AI can scale in traditional industries
Canary is betting that the future of hospitality isn’t just mobile — it’s intelligent, proactive, and fully automated behind the scenes.
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🛡️ Lakestar Launches €300M Fund to Back Europe’s Dual-Use Defence Tech
Lakestar, the VC firm behind Spotify and Revolut, is raising a €250–300M defence-focused fund to support Europe’s strategic autonomy by backing dual-use startups at the intersection of deep tech and security.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Target: €250–300M Defence & Sovereignty Fund
• Check size: €1–15M across early and growth stages
• Thesis: dual-use tech—AI, satellites, cybersecurity, drones, quantum, and more
• Geography: pan-European, with NATO and EU strategic alignment
• Leadership: Klaus Hommels (NATO Innovation Fund chair) personally committing €100M
• Notable angle: bridges private capital with public procurement and policy networks
🌍 Why it matters
• Europe lags in defence R&D—only 4% of budgets vs. 14% in the U.S.
• U.S. and Gulf capital increasingly dominates sensitive European tech
• A dedicated EU-native fund helps align innovation with regional trust, sovereignty, and resilience
• Aims to fill gaps in defence innovation pipeline and scale deep tech startups across borders
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Dual-use tech faces complex regulatory, ethical, and procurement hurdles
• But early ownership in mission-aligned defence tech offers long-term geopolitical and financial upside
• Hommels’ deep links to NATO and EU institutions give Lakestar a unique edge in this space
Lakestar’s new fund isn’t just about returns—it’s a calculated bet on securing Europe’s future through trusted, sovereign tech built on home soil.
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📱 Meta Eyes $10B+ Bet on Scale AI to Lock In Strategic Data Advantage
Meta is reportedly in advanced talks to invest $10–11 billion in Scale AI, the fast-growing data infrastructure startup powering training data pipelines for top frontier models. If completed, this would be Meta’s largest external AI investment to date.
✅ Inside the potential $10B+ deal
• Scale AI projected to hit $2B in 2025 revenue, up from ~$870M in 2024
• Meta would anchor Scale’s next phase—fueling custom data for Meta’s AI models
• No cloud credits involved—this would be direct capital, not infra barter
• Part of Meta’s broader $65B+ AI spend across chips, infra, and model development
🛸 Why Scale AI matters to Meta
• Powers data annotation, filtering, and labeling across vision, language, and multimodal
• Scale already collaborates with Meta on Defense Llama, a model for national security use
• Owning the data pipeline helps Meta differentiate vs. OpenAI (Microsoft) and Anthropic (Amazon/Google)
📈 Strategic context and implications
• Mirrors Microsoft’s $13B investment in OpenAI—but with a different architecture
• Helps Meta secure critical data inputs as foundation models commoditize
• Could accelerate Meta’s push into enterprise and defense AI applications
With Scale AI, Meta could tighten its grip on the most valuable resource in AI: high-quality, human-labeled data.
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🐝 Nectar Social Emerges to Turn Brand Buzz into Revenue with AI Agents
Nectar Social, co-founded by sisters Misbah and Farah Uraizee, has emerged from stealth with a $10.6M seed round led by GV and True Ventures. The startup builds AI agents to help brands monitor, engage, and monetize real-time conversations across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit.
✅ What Nectar is building
• Product: AI agents for brand engagement and community response
• Use cases: real-time sentiment analysis, auto-replies, content routing, and social-to-sales conversion
• Channels: TikTok, Instagram, Reddit — with others in the pipeline
• Users: brand marketing teams, community managers, and growth leads
• Funding: $10.6M seed led by GV and True Ventures
💬 Why it matters
• Organic social engagement is high intent — but hard to scale or monetize manually
• Nectar’s agents aim to turn brand mentions and comments into conversions
• Founders see opportunity in automating high-friction parts of social commerce
• With brands spending billions on content, Nectar is betting the next unlock is interaction, not impressions
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• AI agents need to walk a fine line between automation and authenticity
• Social platforms change fast — integrations and policy compliance are moving targets
• But with strong founders (ex-Meta, Stanford) and early traction, investors see a wedge into a growing market
As social becomes more conversational and less curated, Nectar is betting that brand presence will be powered by agents — not interns glued to DMs.
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🦾 Iron Wolf Capital Closes €30M Fund to Fuel Baltic Deep Tech
Vilnius-based Iron Wolf Capital has raised a €30 million second fund to back early-stage deep tech startups across the Baltics. With checks up to €2M, the firm is doubling down on emerging science-driven founders in AI, robotics, space, and beyond.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• €30M Fund II focused on Baltic deep tech
• Target check size: up to €2M per startup
• Sectors: AI, robotics, advanced materials, space tech
• Geography: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
• Backers: 90% re-up from Fund I + new LPs incl. Lithuania’s ILTE and 40+ EU family offices
• Goal: eventually scale to €100M
🌎 Why it matters
• Baltic deep tech raised a record €160M in H1 2024—despite wider VC slowdown
• Iron Wolf aims to turn cutting-edge academic R&D into scalable commercial ventures
• Fund targets seed to Series A, bridging critical capital gaps for science-first startups
• Helps build a regional deep tech hub with global potential
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Deep tech timelines are longer and capital-intensive—LP patience is key
• Requires hands-on support to translate research into product
• Opportunity lies in owning early equity in globally competitive IP-heavy startups
Iron Wolf Capital is betting that the next Baltic unicorn won’t be a SaaS tool—but a physics equation turned company.
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🟡 Nebius raises $1B to fuel AI infrastructure expansion and prep Nasdaq return
Amsterdam-based Nebius Group, an emerging AI infrastructure giant spun out of Yandex, has raised $1 billion in convertible notes to accelerate global data center expansion and bolster its position as a full-stack AI cloud provider.
✅ Inside the $1B raise
• $500M in 2.00% notes due 2029 + $500M in 3.00% notes due 2031
• Backed by institutional investors betting on AI infra scale
• Proceeds will fund next-gen GPU clusters and geographic expansion
• Sets up the company for profitability and potential Nasdaq relisting
🛸 Why Nebius matters now
• Offers a vertically integrated AI-native cloud platform, from compute to tools
• Q1 2025 revenue hit $55.3M—up 385% YoY, with ARR targeting $1B
• Expanding to 200MW of capacity across new global data center zones
• Competing with Hyperscalers by offering sovereign and private cloud flavors
📈 From Yandex spinout to global infra contender
• Formed in 2024 after Yandex divested its international businesses for $5.4B
• Now independent, with Goldman Sachs advising on Nasdaq relisting
• Rebuilt leadership and GTM teams with focus on AI-native use cases
Nebius is building the rails for the AI era—and with $1B in fresh capital, it’s betting it can scale faster and leaner than the cloud giants it once chased.
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🧬 BGF Pledges £3B to Supercharge UK Deep Tech—£300M Reserved for Women-Led ventures
BGF, the UK’s most active growth capital investor, has committed £3 billion over five years to support British startups in deep tech, life sciences, and climate innovation. A standout £300 million slice of the fund is earmarked for women-led ventures—marking one of the largest diversity-focused capital commitments in the UK venture ecosystem.
✅ Where the capital is going
• Targeting growth and early-stage companies in life sciences, AI, advanced manufacturing, and climate tech
• Minimum £300M dedicated to female founders, building on BGF’s earlier £25M support for the Invest in Women Taskforce
• Ticket sizes: £3M–£30M for growth-stage, £3M–£10M for earlier-stage, with flexibility for follow-ons
• Focus on leveling the playing field—74% of past capital deployed outside London and the South East
• Part of a broader goal to address regional and demographic imbalances in venture funding
🚀 Why this matters now
• As global capital for deep tech consolidates, BGF’s domestic focus provides a critical counterbalance
• Women-led startups still receive less than 3% of UK VC funding—BGF’s £300M aims to meaningfully shift that baseline
• BGF’s sector picks align with the UK’s national priorities in biosecurity, energy transition, and AI sovereignty
🏦 Who’s behind BGF
• Founded in 2011 by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, and Standard Chartered as an independent evergreen fund
• Backed by over £3B in long-term capital, with more than £4.5B invested across 400+ businesses since launch
• Operates from 15 offices across the UK and Ireland with a 180-person team focused on regional deployment
This isn’t just a capital injection—it’s a strategic bet on the UK’s next generation of global tech leaders, with diversity and regional resilience at the core.
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🇮🇳 Raphe mPhibr Raises $100M to Build India’s Indigenous Drone Powerhouse
Raphe mPhibr, a defense drone startup based in Noida and Bengaluru, has secured a $100M Series B led by General Catalyst, with participation from Think Investments and Amal Parikh. It’s the largest private drone investment in India to date, pushing the company’s valuation to nearly $900M — and advancing its mission to make India self-reliant in military UAV tech.
✅ Inside the round
• $100M Series B led by General Catalyst, joined by Think Investments and Amal Parikh
• Total funding: $145M to date
• Valuation: ~$890M–$900M post-money
• Funding will expand R&D, scale manufacturing, and accelerate export strategy
✈️ Vertically integrated drone manufacturing
• Builds 9 fully indigenous drone platforms — from swarms to high-altitude logistics and naval UAVs
• Produces everything in-house: engines, flight controllers, batteries, composites, electronics
• Over 1 million km of UAV flight completed; supports Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force operations
🌍 Aligned with India’s defense and export vision
• Key supplier in Operation Sindoor; revenue has grown 4× annually for 4 years
• Operates 650,000 sq ft manufacturing hub across Noida and Bengaluru
• Plans to launch in-house radar and camera production within 18 months
• Targeting global defense exports and exploring IPO over next 2–5 years
🚀 Why it matters
• Sets a new benchmark for India’s drone ecosystem and defense self-reliance
• Reflects rising VC confidence in frontier tech and national security startups
• Raphe mPhibr is positioning itself as India’s first end-to-end military drone OEM — ready to compete globally
India’s drone future may already be airborne — and Raphe mPhibr is piloting it.
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🇺🇸 Laude Institute Debuts with $100M to Back Mission-Driven AI Researchers
Andy Konwinski — co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity AI — has pledged $100M of personal capital to launch the Laude Institute, a new nonprofit and public-benefit hybrid designed to fund long-term, independent AI research. The initiative also complements a venture arm, Laude VC, which invests in early AI startups.
✅ Inside the fund
• Model: Hybrid nonprofit + public-benefit corp with direct grants to researchers
• Capital: $100M committed by Konwinski personally
• Focus: “Slingshots” (early-stage grants) and “Moonshots” (long-horizon AI challenges)
• First grant: $3M/year for 5 years to UC Berkeley’s new AI Systems Lab (launching 2027)
• Governance: Board includes Dave Patterson, Jeff Dean, Joelle Pineau
🌍 What makes Laude stand out
• Created to counter growing commercialization in AI research
• Designed to fund independent work without pressure from vendors or corporate agendas
• Operates alongside Laude VC — a venture fund backed by 50+ AI researchers
• Promotes open science, ethical innovation, and multi-decade thinking
🚀 Why it matters
• As AI becomes central to society, independent and mission-aligned research is critical
• Tech billionaires are increasingly stepping in where public funding falls short
• Laude’s model could inspire more hybrid vehicles that combine philanthropy and venture
Laude is betting that giving researchers both freedom and capital will unlock the next generation of responsible AI breakthroughs.
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🇺🇸 Vultr Locks In $329M Debt Facility to Power AI Cloud Expansion
Vultr, the U.S.-based independent cloud infrastructure provider, has secured a $329M debt facility from a syndicate of major banks including Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, KeyBank, and Wells Fargo. The funds will help scale its global AI compute infrastructure as demand for GPU-powered workloads accelerates.
✅ Inside the deal
• Structure: $329M in non-dilutive debt financing
• Lenders: Syndicate led by top-tier U.S. banks including Citi, Goldman, and JPMorgan
• Use of proceeds: Expand GPU and AI compute capacity across Vultr’s global data centers
• Comparison: Follows CoreWeave’s $2B debt raise as Wall Street ramps up cloud exposure
🌍 Why it matters
• Demand for AI model training and inference is driving explosive need for cloud GPU capacity
• Vultr provides a flexible alternative to hyperscalers, targeting developers and enterprises with cost-effective AI infrastructure
• Lower financing costs suggest growing bank comfort with infrastructure-backed debt in AI
📉 Strategy and market context
• Vultr’s use of debt—vs. equity—preserves ownership while scaling rapidly
• Reinforces a broader trend of institutional debt flowing into AI infrastructure
• Enables capital-efficient growth without dilution in a high-CAPEX
Vultr is building the pipelines—using Wall Street’s capital to scale without giving up control.
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🧬 Denver Ventures Closes $20M Debut Fund to Back Founders with “DNA Advantage”
Denver Ventures, a Colorado-based firm born out of an angel syndicate, has closed an oversubscribed $20M debut fund focused on early-stage startups with exceptional founding teams. The fund bets on what it calls “Founder DNA”—grit, clarity, and long-term adaptability over short-term traction.
✅ Inside the fund
• $20M Fund I, oversubscribed from initial $15M target
• Backed by a mix of individual angels and institutional LPs
• Focus: Pre-seed to Series A with $1M–$3M checks
• Portfolio includes early bets in fintech, healthtech, and applied AI
🔍 What makes Denver Ventures stand out
• Invests based on founder traits—not just markets or products
• Looks for teams with high alignment, resilience, and domain fluency
• Originated as a syndicate—now fully institutionalized with fund structure
🚀 Why it matters
• As seed markets mature, investor edge is shifting from thesis to talent
• “Founder-first” investing is regaining focus amid AI hype and fast pivots
• Denver Ventures sees opportunity in overlooked but high-potential teams
Can Denver Ventures’ founder-centric lens outperform in a market obsessed with metrics—and spot tomorrow’s outliers before anyone else?
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🌍 Endeavor Catalyst Raises $300M to Back Emerging Market Scaleups
Endeavor Catalyst, the co-investment arm of global network Endeavor, is raising a $300M Fund V to support high-growth startups across Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Target: $300M Fund V, up from $292M in Fund IV
• Stage: Series A–C; $5M+ co-investments, no lead or board roles
• Model: Only backs Endeavor-vetted founders in 34+ countries
• LPs: Includes family offices, DFIs, and Endeavor Entrepreneurs
🌐 Why it matters
• Supports breakout startups like Flutterwave, Rappi, Insider, and Tabby
• Over 30 exits to date; stayed active through downturns (13 deals in Q4 2024)
• Bridges the growth-stage funding gap in underserved markets
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• No governance rights limits influence, but lowers friction
• Highly selective — only invests in vetted founders
• Offers global LPs efficient access to top startups in frontier ecosystems
Endeavor Catalyst is quietly becoming the go-to co-investor for breakout startups beyond Silicon Valley.
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🛡️ Lakestar Launches €300M Fund to Back Europe’s Dual-Use Defence Tech
Lakestar, the VC firm behind Spotify and Revolut, is raising a €250–300M defence-focused fund to support Europe’s strategic autonomy by backing dual-use startups at the intersection of deep tech and security.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Target: €250–300M European Defence & Sovereignty Fund
• Focus: Early-stage defence and dual-use startups — AI, cybersecurity, satellites, robotics, autonomous systems
• Strategy: Back both civilian and military applications with scalable commercial potential
• Edge: Chaired by Klaus Hommels, who also chairs NATO’s Innovation Fund; €100M+ committed personally
• LPs: Includes sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and the European Investment Fund
🌍 Why it matters
• EU defence tech VC hit $5.2B in 2024 — a 5x jump from 2018 — but still lags behind U.S. and China
• War in Ukraine has catalyzed Europe’s focus on defence self-reliance and strategic tech independence
• Lakestar is among the few top-tier VCs in Europe to dedicate a full fund to this category
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Defence tech is still a tough sell for traditional LPs wary of ethical and political concerns
• Dual-use thesis depends on clear civilian-market potential and regulatory alignment
• Lakestar is betting its policy ties and deeptech roots can unlock outsized returns in a rising but undercapitalized sector
Lakestar’s new fund positions it as a first-mover in Europe’s defence-tech renaissance — blending VC discipline with sovereign strategy.
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🧠 Felicis Raises $900M Fund X to Back the Next Generation of AI Giants
Felicis, the early-stage VC firm known for early bets on Shopify, Twitch, and Notion, has raised a $900M Fund X to double down on AI-native startups redefining software, infrastructure, and productivity.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Fund: $900M Fund X — largest in Felicis’ 19-year history
• Focus: Seed to Series A, with follow-on potential into growth
• AI tilt: 70% of active portfolio is AI-native, including Runway, Poolside, and Supabase
• Track record: 50+ unicorns and 125+ exits since 2006
• Strategy: Back ambitious founders building $100B+ companies in emerging categories
🌍 Why it matters
• Felicis is leaning into the AI inflection point, where foundational models unlock new verticals
• The firm positions itself as a partner from inception through IPO
• With outsized conviction, Felicis aims to institutionalize early bets in “category creators”
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Fund size puts pressure on returns — especially in a crowded early-stage AI market
• Focus on founder-VC alignment, hands-on support, and defensible software plays
• Fund X seen as a signal of strong LP demand for AI-first portfolios
Felicis isn’t just chasing trends — it’s betting big on the next wave of AI-native platforms before they tip into hypergrowth.
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🌱 Collab Capital Closes $75M Fund to Scale Inclusive Innovation
Collab Capital, the Atlanta-based VC firm co-founded by Jewel Burks Solomon and Barry Givens, has raised a $75M second fund to back early-stage startups solving systemic challenges across work, healthcare, and community infrastructure.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Target: $75M Fund II, nearly 50% larger than Fund I
• Check size: $1–2M across Seed and Series A, with 40% reserved for follow-ons
• Thesis: backing Black-led and mission-aligned startups tackling access, equity, and economic mobility
• Sectors: future of work, AI-enabled healthcare access, community infrastructure
• LPs: Apple, Goldman Sachs, California IBank, Reclaim Capital, Leon Levine Foundation
🌍 Why it matters
• VC remains highly concentrated—less than 2% of U.S. venture dollars go to Black founders
• Collab’s model combines capital with operational, mental health, and go-to-market support
• A rare example of a Black-led fund scaling with institutional LPs and a national portfolio
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Remains niche compared to billion-dollar mega-funds—but that’s the point
• Fund II reflects LP confidence that inclusive investing delivers real returns
• With a stronger follow-on reserve, Collab aims to turn early traction into scaled outcomes
Collab Capital isn’t chasing unicorns—it’s cultivating sustainable, founder-first startups that can transform underserved markets from the inside out.
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💰 Vantage Closes €720M in Europe’s First Data Center ABS Deal
Vantage Data Centers has raised €720M through Europe’s first euro-denominated ABS backed by data center assets—marking a breakthrough in digital infrastructure financing.
✅ Deal highlights
• Structure: €640M term notes + €80M variable funding notes (VFNs)
• Backing: 4 fully leased data centers in Frankfurt & Berlin (55–64 MW)
• Ratings: A- and BBB- from S&P and Scope
• Partners: Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Clifford Chance
• ESG: Green Bond certified by Morningstar Sustainalytics
📈 Why it matters
• First of its kind in the EU—following prior USD and GBP deals
• 2–4x oversubscribed, despite high leverage
• Part of Vantage’s €2.2B EMEA debt wave
• Signals growing demand for AI-era infrastructure financing
📉 Risks & investor view
• Euro ABS lags US scale—but data centers offer fresh collateral
• Complex underwriting limits mass investor participation
• Early entrants gain fixed, ESG-aligned exposure to mission-critical assets
Vantage just proved data centers can anchor institutional euro debt. The securitization playbook for digital infrastructure in Europe is officially open.
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💳 OatFi raises $24M to embed credit into B2B payment platforms
New York–based fintech infrastructure startup OatFi has raised a $24M Series A led by White Star Capital, with backing from Portage and QED. The company powers embedded working capital tools inside B2B payments, AP/AR platforms, and commercial cards.
💬 What OatFi does
• Unified API that embeds underwriting, origination, and capital directly into financial workflows
• Enables instant supplier payouts while giving buyers flexible terms — all natively within platforms
• Integrated with Unit, Galileo, Transcard, and 25+ other B2B platforms
✅ Why it matters
• $35T B2B payments market still runs on fragmented credit rails and legacy workflows
• OatFi bridges the cash flow gap with infrastructure-level tools — not standalone lenders
• Embedded finance is moving from consumer checkout to B2B payments and procurement stacks
📈 The thesis
• B2B credit is a workflow problem, not just a lending problem
• Platforms want to own more of the financial stack — and OatFi gives them the rails to do it
• Credit-as-a-service is emerging as the next layer in vertical SaaS and fintech infra
For embedded finance, OatFi is making a bigger bet: not just offering credit, but re-architecting how B2B platforms deliver it — natively, instantly, and at scale.
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🌱 Nordic Foodtech VC Raises €40M to Rebuild the Broken Food System
Helsinki-based Nordic Foodtech VC has closed the first €40M of its second fund, aiming for an €80M total to back science-first startups tackling food, health, and climate challenges. The fund focuses on pre-seed and seed deals across the Nordics and Baltics.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• Target: €80M Fund II, €40M already secured
• Check size: €200K–€2M, with follow-on reserves
• Thesis: science-based innovations transforming food and agriculture
• Geography: Nordic & Baltic region
• University network: 22+ research institutions as dealflow partners
• Notable backers: Nordic institutions, private investors, and repeat LPs
🧪 Why it matters
• Europe’s foodtech VC activity dropped 30% in 2024—but Nordic Foodtech is doubling down
• The fund’s model is to translate academic breakthroughs into scalable companies
• Focus areas include protein alternatives, fermentation, agri-bio, climate resilience, and food health
• Spinout support bridges the gap between research labs and commercial traction
📉 Risks, strategy, or investor view
• Foodtech cycles are long—scientific de-risking and patient capital are essential
• Many bets hinge on regulatory shifts and changing consumer behavior
• But owning early equity in mission-driven deep science startups offers asymmetric upside
Nordic Foodtech VC is quietly building the Y Combinator of agri-food science—where the next unicorn might start in a university lab, not a founder’s garage.
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🔔 Kuwait Joins $30B AI Infra Venture Backed by Microsoft & BlackRock
Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund (KIA) has joined the $30B AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP)—a mega-initiative led by Microsoft, BlackRock, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX—to co-develop global AI data centers and break free from oil-driven growth.
✅ What’s inside the venture
• Targeting $100B in total capital (mix of equity + debt) to build energy-intensive AI infrastructure
• Founding backers: Microsoft, BlackRock, MGX (Abu Dhabi), with partners like Nvidia, Cisco, and xAI
• Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) becomes the first non-founding anchor LP
• Projects span hyperscale data centers, energy systems, and compute hubs in the U.S. and partner nations
• AIP aims to accelerate global access to AI compute while reshaping digital energy geopolitics
🌎 Why it matters
• Middle Eastern funds are aggressively pivoting from hydrocarbons to digital infrastructure
• AI infra—data centers, chips, power—is the new oil: scarce, expensive, and geopolitically strategic
• Aligns Kuwait’s sovereign strategy with the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s playbooks for post-oil diversification
• Provides Western tech giants with capital and long-term partners in scaling high-cost infrastructure
📉 Risks, strategic shift, or investor view
• Foreign investment in U.S. tech infra may face political scrutiny amid rising digital sovereignty concerns
• Kuwait’s KIA is betting on infrastructure exposure, not just financial returns—blending public and private goals
• The AI infra race is capital-intensive with unclear payback timelines, especially outside core cloud markets
• But this deal plants Kuwait firmly in the global AI value chain—well beyond oil and passive investing
The move signals that Gulf sovereigns aren’t just riding the AI wave—they’re laying down the rails it runs on.
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🧠 Cathay Innovation Closes €1B AI Fund to Back Deep Tech Across Real-World Sectors
Paris-based Cathay Innovation has raised a massive €1 billion for its third fund, one of Europe’s largest AI-focused vehicles to date. The firm aims to back vertical AI startups transforming critical industries like healthcare, finance, energy, and mobility.
✅ What’s inside the fund
• €1B fund focused entirely on AI startups
• Targeting 30+ investments across EU, US, and Asia
• Check sizes: €50M+ over company lifecycles
• First 14 investments include Nabla (AI for doctors), Mogic AI (genAI for short-form video)
• LPs include Sanofi, TotalEnergies, BNP Paribas Cardif, Valeo, and other global corporates
🌎 Why it matters
• Vertical AI is the next wave—moving beyond foundation models to real-world, sector-specific applications
• Europe is stepping up to compete with the U.S. and China on AI infrastructure and adoption
• Corporate LPs signal strong demand for AI integrations in incumbent industries
• Positions Cathay as a key bridge between startups and large-scale enterprise deployment
📉 Risks, strategic shift, or investor view
• Big checks mean fewer bets—success will depend on deep technical diligence and category timing
• Corporate-backed funds must balance strategic interests with financial returns
• Vertical AI markets are fragmented and require long-tail domain expertise to scale effectively
• But if AI becomes core to every industry, Cathay is building exposure to the new rails of global commerce
Cathay’s Fund III is a high-conviction bet that AI will reshape not just tech—but the industrial backbone of the global economy.
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🌱 Sinopec launches $690M hydrogen VC fund to fuel China’s clean energy future
State-owned energy giant Sinopec has unveiled a 5 billion yuan ($690M) hydrogen-focused venture capital fund—the largest of its kind in China. The fund will back early-stage companies building the core technologies, equipment, and materials needed to scale the country’s hydrogen economy.
✅ Inside the hydrogen fund
• Targeting early-stage startups across hydrogen production, storage, transport, and refueling
• Managed by Sinopec’s own PE arm, with support from regional partners like Shandong New Growth Drivers and Yantai Guofeng
• Part of Sinopec’s broader $4.6B clean hydrogen commitment by 2025
• Aligns with China’s goal to reach 200K tons of annual green hydrogen production and 50K hydrogen vehicles by 2025
• Complements Sinopec’s growing network of 144 hydrogen refueling stations across the country
🚀 Strategic signal, not just capital
• China is betting on hydrogen as a long-term decarbonization play, especially for heavy industry and transport
• Sinopec is positioning itself as the national hydrogen champion, building both infrastructure and IP
• Early VC-style investments will give Sinopec a front-row seat to emerging technologies and potential M&A targets
🏭 A fossil giant pivots
• This move reinforces the trend of oil majors transforming into climate-era investors
• By combining upstream capabilities with startup innovation, Sinopec aims to lead hydrogen’s cost curve down
• It’s a state-led model of climate tech venture that contrasts sharply with Silicon Valley’s approach
Sinopec isn’t just funding hydrogen—it’s engineering China’s future energy backbone.
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