Eindhoven-based LUMO Labs, the Dutch fund manager behind impact-driven investment funds in emerging technologies, announced on Tuesday that it will run its operations for Spain and Portugal from the Norssken House in Barcelona.
The Deputy Mayor for Economy, Finance, Economic Promotion and Tourism of Barcelona City Council, Jordi Valls, says, “The arrival of the fund “reinforces the options of the local startup ecosystem to obtain funding appropriate to their business model’ while Valls said that the announced investment line ‘focused on startup projects with social and environmental impact is aligned with the policies of the City Council to support the growth of the economy linked to technological development and to reduce the effects of climate change”.
This move will give startups from the region direct access to LUMO Labs’ capital, network, and expertise.
“With our presence in Barcelona, we intend to reinforce the Impact-Tech Axis between the North and South of Europe,” says Andy Lürling, founding partner of LUMO Labs.
“Over the last 4 years, with our previous fund, we have been actively reviewing startups from across Europe. We chose Barcelona as our regional hub because here we see the highest activity of impact-driven tech startups that match our investment thesis.”
The announcement comes around three months after launching the new fund — LUMO Rise Fund at €100M.
With this fund, the Dutch VC aims to invest in 30 to 35 impact-driven startups in Europe focused on the development and application of emerging digital technologies for a greener and stronger society.
In addition to investing in early-stage startups in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium, the fund now also proactively focuses on innovative startups from Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, and the Baltic States.
Consequently, the Dutch fund manager also appointed Linn-Cecilie Linneman and Jorge Blasco as new team members in Norway and Spain, respectively, ensuring local representation in these strategic regions.
About a year ago, the Norrsken Foundation from Sweden opened a large hub for technology and social impact in a 10,000-square-meter beachfront building in Barcelona.
Jorge Blasco, partner at LUMO Labs for Spain and Portugal, continues, “Norrsken House Barcelona makes it possible to literally come together. It is great to see LUMO land in Barcelona. The collaboration from the local authorities, such as Barcelona Activa, the city council, ACCIO, or ICF, has been great and we look forward to intensifying our contribution to the local startup ecosystem.”
LUMO Labs: Everything you need to know
Founded by Andy Lürling and Sven Bakkes in 2016, LUMO Labs transitioned from angel investing to managing its first fund in 2020 before introducing the LUMO Rise Fund.
It is recognised for its diversity, equity, inclusion profile and active involvement in the Dutch startup ecosystem.
The firm’s LUMO Rise Fund is a €100M multi-stage VC fund focusing on impact-driven startups from Pre-Seed to Series A.
It offers a coaching programme for founders aiming to address social and environmental challenges through technological innovations.
The fund targets scalable, financially sustainable systems and platforms related to emerging technologies like AI, Blockchain, IoT, Digital Security, and Extended Realities (AR/VR).
The LUMO Rise Fund is the successor to LUMO Fund II. It invests in impact-driven startups across Europe, focusing on Benelux and Germany, and a secondary focus on the Nordics, Baltics, and the Iberian Peninsula.
Norrsken Foundation: What you need to know
Founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, the Norrsken Foundation aims to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
It has created a global impact ecosystem where founders can find the knowledge, capital, and network they need to make saving the world their business.
The foundation runs Norrsken House in Sweden and Norrsken House in Kigali, East Africa’s largest hub for startups.
Marc Jordana Soldevilla, CEO & Co-founder of Norrsken Barcelona, claims: ‘We believe that entrepreneurship and new technologies are forces that can build a better tomorrow. We are delighted that international venture capital firms investing in technology like LUMO choose Norrsken as their main base in Barcelona. We are starting to see an increasing number of startup founders choosing to focus on impact, climate technologies, deeptech and other emerging technologies, all of which need funding and support to reach the market. We look forward to continuing to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem for these cases in conjunction with LUMO being here in Barcelona.”
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