Vsquared Ventures, one of Europe’s leading early-stage deep tech funds, announced the successful final closing of its latest fund, Vsquared II. Vsquared closes Vsquared II oversubscribed at €214 million, above the initial target size of €165 million. The fund is the largest European early-stage deep tech fund to date, cementing the deep tech momentum in Europe.
With the new capital Vsquared will continue to empower founders building companies based on groundbreaking technologies, creating new markets and becoming global leaders out of Europe to make the region future-proof. The pan-European fund continues Vsquared’s commitment to fostering a sovereign and resilient European deep tech ecosystem, which the fund has promoted since its inception. The closing of Vsquared II brings Vsquared’s assets under management to around €450 million.
The fund targets six generational growth themes: AI & next-gen software, energy transition, new computing and sensing, new space, robotics and manufacturing and tech-bio. Portfolio companies create highly technological solutions, ranging from making battery recycling more sustainable and cost-efficient or ensuring independent access to space. Vsquared is led by GPs Lise Rechsteiner, Thomas Oehl, Herbert Mangesius and Benedikt von Schoeler, and has been backing some of Europe’s most promising deep tech companies, including Isar Aerospace, Zama, IQM Quantum, Inbrain Neuroelectronics and The Exploration Company.
Dr. Lise Rechsteiner, Thomas Oehl, Dr. Herbert Mangesius and Benedikt von Schoeler, Vsquared’s GPs, commented: “Right now there is immense opportunity for Europe to become a global deep tech powerhouse – which is also imperative to secure the continent’s sovereignty and to make it future-proof. Companies that solve real problems through real technology on a global scale will be successful and these are the ones we partner with. As Vsquared continues to drive forward with Vsquared II, we remain dedicated to leveraging not only capital, but also our expertise, extensive partner and network for our founders, with the goal in mind to prove that the next global deep tech leaders can and will be European.”
The new capital has already led to investments in a diverse portfolio of cutting-edge technology companies, including Neura Robotics, a pioneer in cognitive robotics; Cylib, innovators in next-generation battery recycling technology; Quantune, which is developing the world’s first wearable laser-based biomarker measurement system; bioscience company Atrandi, which is enabling next-gen sequencing at scale; Dynelectro, which is enabling cost-efficient and sustainable hydrogen production; Lace Lithography, focused on advancing chip patterning technology; leading provider of space-based insights ConstellR; and Synthara, at the forefront of integrating in-memory computing.
With the closing of the fund, Vsquared will deploy new capital backed by a mix of limited partners (LPs), including institutional investors, family offices, fund of fund investors, and other individual players, including founders. These include Novo Holdings, the investment company of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), EIFO, the European Investment Fund (EIF), KfW Capital, and Lingotto. The strong investor base and capital commitment underlines the position of deep tech on the top of the agenda of investors and the realization of the opportunity that the sphere presents. Europe is experiencing a true deep tech momentum.
Sören Thinggard Jensen, Senior Partner and Head of Private Equity at Novo Holdings, said: “We believe Vsquared is one of the funds in Europe with the best understanding of deep tech startups, proven by the track record in investing early in some of the current frontrunners in the ecosystem. We look forward to partnering with Vsquared to ensure that the continent is strongly positioned and to back the next generation of deep tech leaders out of Europe.”
Marjut Falkstedt, EIF Chief Executive, added: “Europe has leading research facilities and an incredible talent pool, and turning bright ideas into viable business propositions is top of our priority list. This is why we are excited to be supporting Vsquared, who are deep tech experts, to continue to channel financing into Europe’s deeptech ecosystem, confident that progress in this field can play a crucial role in addressing the multitude of challenges that we are facing.”
