Vienna-based early-stage VC Speedinvest raises €500M, reaches €1B AUM

Vienna-based Speedinvest, an early-stage VC, announced on Tuesday that it has raised €500M in new capital, bringing its total AUM (Assets Under Management) to more than €1B.

Out of the total, €300M will be used to invest in pre-Seed and Seed tech startups through its fourth flagship fund, Speedinvest 4, and the remaining €200M will be deployed towards its existing portfolio companies to support their long-term growth. 

The Austrian VC says that the fund’s investors have already committed 90 per cent of €500M.

All the institutional investors from Speedinvest 3 have returned, with major commitments from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), the European Investment Fund (EIF), and Bpifrance, alongside globally recognised government funds, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, and large family offices. 

Many of Speedinvest’s most successful founders have also committed funds, including from Bitpanda, GoStudent, Billie, Planetly, TWAICE, and Yokoy.

Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner, NEA, says, “Speedinvest is a sought-after partner for growing companies across Europe’s startup ecosystem, with an approach to company building for the long-term that is very much aligned with NEA’s. As we deepen our firm’s commitment to the region, our long-term partnership with Speedinvest continues to be among our most valuable in Europe.”

The VC is expected to write cheques ranging from €600K for pre-seed companies to €2.5M for seed-stage companies. In addition, Speedinvest intends to add about 100 new startups with the early-stage fund. 

Speedinvest 4’s initial investments from the fund include Autone (SaaS, Italy), Drop (Fintech, France / US), Solvo.ai (Deep Tech, UK), The Lowdown (Digital Health, UK), and NeoCarbon (Industrial Tech, Germany).

The Austrian VC also closed its €80M Climate & Industry Opportunity fund. The VC says it will invest this fund in new climate tech startups addressing sustainability challenges in the industrial sector while supporting Speedinvest’s existing sustainability-oriented portfolio.

Speedinvest: What you need to know

Launched as a €10M micro-fund in 2011, Speedinvest is a pan-European early-stage venture capital firm with more than €1B AuM and 40 investors based in Berlin, London, Munich, Paris, and Vienna. 

The early-stage VC has more than 20 future unicorns in its portfolio (as defined by Dealroom), including Adverity, Billie, CoachHub, Schüttflix, TWAICE, and Primer.

Oliver Holle, CEO and Managing Partner at Speedinvest, says, “In just ten years, Speedinvest has grown from a small €10M Austrian fund to one of Europe’s largest Seed investors. This new capital proves there is still room to innovate in European VC. As more and more capital and talent flood the ecosystem, further professionalisation of our industry is required.

He adds, “We have invested everything we have in building a scalable investment platform and are glad to see that our founders truly appreciate and benefit from its value. Whether it is our sector-focused teams, operational support platform, or multi-office, pan-European approach, all of this is done with one single-minded focus: helping our startups scale to global success.”