EQT Ventures and AP Ventures founders unite to launch Odyssey Ventures from stealth, with plans to bridge the Europe-US valuation gap.

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London-based Odyssey Ventures, a new early-stage venture capital firm, has launched from stealth to support Europe’s most ambitious founders close the 29-52 per cent valuation gap with the US.

The VC firm announced that it has secured backing from reputed tech leaders and founders from the US and Europe. However, they didn’t disclose the names. 

With offices in London and San Francisco, Odyssey has already invested in three companies, including its first major investment in Flow Engineering.

Michelle Robson, Founding Partner at Odyssey Ventures, adds, “Odyssey is here for the founders tackling humanity-sized problems with real technological depth, and we want to be the most helpful partner they can have. Europe is brimming with ambitious startups that can become global leaders, but they need investors who provide the right hands-on support, scaling expertise and a bigger risk appetite.” 

“Founders aiming for multi-billion-dollar outcomes need US capital and market access. We built Odyssey because we’re passionate about getting them there, offering early-stage European founders the backing, experience, and network to grow fast and win globally,” adds Robson.  

Odyssey Ventures: Focus on AI and automation

Odyssey is a venture firm started by experienced founders from EQT Ventures and AP Ventures.

It aims to support ambitious founders in the UK and Europe by investing early on and providing strong operational support.

The firm also offers access to the US market and investors to help these founders grow globally from the start.

Odyssey focuses on founders using AI and automation to change physical industries that have not yet been digitised.

Odyssey’s portfolio companies include: 

  • Flow Engineering is a London-based startup focused on helping people design products faster, simpler, and safer. Ali Mitchell, the managing partner of Odyssey, has supported Flow since its early days with investments. Flow has just announced its Series A funding round, led by Sequoia in San Francisco, with participation from Odyssey and the founders of Stripe and Unity. Roelof Botha, Sequoia’s managing partner, will join Flow’s board as part of this funding round.
  • Viridi is a UK-based university spin-out that wants to create innovative solutions to make plastics and everyday products cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Recently, they introduced the world’s first commercial anionic surfactant, which uses upcycled CO2 in cleaning products instead of palm kernel oil or fossil fuels.
  • A startup founded by Cambridge graduates is making progress in human health with new brain-computer interfaces.

How does Odyssey support founders?

Odyssey helps founders quickly assess their ideas, often within hours of an initial meeting. They provide significant investments as the business grows from pre-seed to Series A and beyond.

The support includes expert advice from experienced founders and access to the US market through their San Francisco office.

Additionally, their team features well-known tech founders and executives who offer valuable insights from their experiences with successful startups.

Ali Mitchell, Managing Partner at Odyssey Ventures, says, “We’re at the start of a 20-year venture supercycle. The world does not need another CRM, even one with a nice bit of AI on top. What we do need are breakthroughs in science, deep tech, compute, energy, human and planetary health – which is where AI and automation can truly make enormous gains. We are now seeing more and more of the most ambitious founders taking this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” 

“As a result, markets that have so far been relatively untouched by digitisation can now grow at software speed, faster and more efficiently than ever before, enabling start-ups to do in 10 months what previously took 10 years – creating unheard of value for the long-term. Odyssey is the VC for those founders,” concludes Mitchell.