Cambridge-based investment firm Amadeus Capital is partnering with Apex Ventures to launch a new €80m (£70.3m) deep tech fund.
The joint fund will target early-stage companies with investments of around £1m at the seed and Series A stage. The two VC firms said they will look for deep tech startups with “unique and defendable technology”. Key areas of focus will be AI, quantum computing, robotics, autonomous tech, and space tech.
The Amadeus Apex Technology Fund has so far raised €28m (£24.6m) of its target and has already made its first investment, which was into a German space tech company called Okapi-Orbits.
The fund will be run by the Amadeus founding team, Anne Glover and Hermann Hauser, along with Andreas Riegler and Wolfgang Neubert, both of whom are partners at Apex. Hauser co-founded Acorn computers, which later span out Cambridge chip company Arm.
“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,” said Amadeus’ Glover.
“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.”
Riegler added: “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.”
