Speedinvest closes fourth fund at €350M; here’s how it plans to use Si4

Vienna-based venture capital firm Speedinvest has closed its fourth flagship fund, Speedinvest 4 (Si4), at €350M, an additional €50M above target.

The final close for this fund brings the total assets to over €600M. Speedinvest closed the first round for Speedinvest 4 at €300M in December 2022. In the same year, an extra €250M was raised for follow-on co-investments, and today’s announcement adds an additional €50M, bringing the total 2022 funds to €600M.

Investors supporting the fund

Speedinvest 4’s final close saw the addition of several new LPs, including Aviva, PwC Germany, Bitburger, ODDO BHF, and Abeille Assurances Ventures. 

The European Investment Fund (EIF) continued its long-term investment, while Generali joined as a first-time investor during the first close. 

The investor base includes entities such as government funds, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and large family offices. Founders from companies like Bitpanda, GoStudent, Billie, Planetly, TWAICE, and Yokoy have also committed funds.

Ben Luckett, Managing Director – Venture Capital at Aviva, says, “Becoming an LP in Speedinvest and investing in some of the most promising new digital and tech firms will bring us closer to emerging technology and consumer trends, helping us create great outcomes for our customers.”

Capital utilisation

The additional capital will reinforce Speedinvest’s aim of offering transformative support to founders and helping early-stage startups scale globally.

Oliver Holle, CEO and Managing Partner of Speedinvest, says, “From a tiny, €10M fund in 2011 to a total AuM of more than €1B – we’re proud, humbled, and ready to make a meaningful impact on the success of the next generation of tech leaders.”

“Now more than ever, Speedinvest remains committed to its sole mission: helping companies build their category-defining business in the early days – when it matters the most.”

“This incremental capital gives us even more firepower to support our courageous, innovative entrepreneurs in their journey to global success as we stay consistent with our target portfolio size.”

Holle further adds, “In times where access to capital in our industry has been the scarcest in the last ten or more years, reaching this milestone is an amazing testament to how investors share our vision of creating a pioneering, pan-European investment platform, which is both scalable and highly impactful for our portfolio companies, our LPs, and the wider European ecosystem.”

Speedinvest 4 – Recent investments

Speedinvest 4’s sector-focused investment teams have actively invested across Europe.

Investments include Finres, Surfboard, Fertifa, cylib, NeoCarbon, and Fairlyne. Many of these companies have already secured follow-on rounds from tier-one VCs.

Speedinvest mentions in a statement, “With 40-plus investment managers across the continent and offices in Berlin, London, Munich, Paris, and Vienna, we’re proud to have built the largest Seed stage investment team in Europe across our six dedicated vertical teams: Climate Tech & Industrial Tech, Deep Tech, Fintech, Health & TechBio, Marketplaces & Consumer, and SaaS & Infrastructure.

The firm adds, “We now see more than 60 per cent of all European startups that reach Series A at the pre-Seed and Seed stages, are ranked among the most active Seed investors in EMEA startups valued at $1B-plus valuations, and were recently named Seed Fund of the Year by GP Bullhound in 2023.”