Amadeus Capital Partners and APEX Ventures have just unveiled a new partnership to pump €80 million into early-stage deep tech startups in Europe. The new fund has made its first close and first investment.
Deep tech is one of Europe’s big growth areas at the moment, and it’s certainly a vertical that many of us are keeping a close eye on. It refers to technology based on high-tech innovation in engineering or significant scientific advances and it’s believed that deep tech can hold the innovations and solutions that will shape a more sustainable, more efficient and more developed future.
It’s a vertical that has captured the attention of Amadeus Capital Partners and APEX Ventures who are taking a collaborative approach to back startups. The two firms have just unveiled a new partnership that will see them invest in deep tech innovators. The total fund is said to have a target total of €80 million with the first close of €28 million already made.
Deep tech addresses today’s most pressing challenges across climate change, medicine, and space – areas that shape our daily lives. It’s a market that is seeing development at an incredibly fast pace. In recent years deep tech innovations have led to incredible discoveries that show what is possible, including artificial intelligence solving the protein folding challenge and the revolutionary mRNA discovery to fight COVID-19.
The Amadeus APEX Technology Fund will initially invest between €1-1.5 million in seed and series A stage deep tech ventures which have ‘unique and defendable technology’. Target sectors include artificial intelligence and machine learning; quantum technologies and photonics; mobility and space innovation; autonomous systems and robotics, and other emerging deep tech areas.
Anne Glover, CEO and Co-Founder at Amadeus: “Major technological breakthroughs are occurring at an accelerated pace with profound changes to our lives and society, and more talent is gravitating towards purpose-driven ideas. In the last couple of years, the world has seen significant breakthroughs in response to crises, and deep tech entrepreneurs have seen these crises as an opportunity. History repeatedly shows that the most successful ventures are born out of these times.”
The fund has already made its first investment in OKAPI:Orbits, which offers space traffic management software designed to help satellite operators reduce manoeuvres, save fuel and limit downtime.
Andreas Riegler, Founding Partner of APEX Ventures: “Today’s startups need more support from their investors, and deep tech businesses, in particular, must have investors that go beyond capital, sharing expertise and knowledge that supports the founders and team to grow. By combining our expertise with the Amadeus team in this fund, we hope to significantly impact the European deep tech ecosystem.”
Headquartered in London, Amadeus has been backing tech innovators since 1997. It focuses on AI & machine learning, cyber security, digital health/medtech, fintech, insurtech, enterprise software and semiconductors/hardware. To date, the firm has raised over $1bn for investment and used it to back more than 180 companies.
APEX Ventures, based in Vienna, has been operating since 2016. The firm backs tech entrepreneurs across the fields of AI for medical applications, quantum and laser technologies, automation and robotics, computer vision, space technologies, and medical technology.
Anne Glover: “Our partnership with APEX Ventures will enable more early-stage deep tech startups to access the support and knowledge they need to scale and see their technology positively impact the world.”
