Earlybird Venture Capital has closed its latest early-stage fund, securing €360 million for Fund VIII. The fund continues the firm’s focus on backing European technology startups at the earliest stages of development.
- Founded in 1997, Earlybird is a venture capital firm with €2.5 billion in assets under management, nine IPOs, and 37 trade sales. It invests in companies across software, infrastructure, and deep tech.
- With Fund VIII, the firm is maintaining its strategy of investing from pre-seed to Series A, often before categories are fully defined or widely adopted. Across its history, Earlybird reports strong performance across multiple fund generations.
- According to the firm, the new fund will continue supporting companies in areas including AI applications, foundation models, software infrastructure, and deep tech.
- Early investments from previous activity include companies such as Black Forest Labs, SpAItial AI, Sintra AI, Neuracore, Arago, Porters, and Rivia. The fund was oversubscribed and backed primarily by long-standing institutional investors and returning limited partners. Earlybird noted that many of these investors have participated across multiple fund generations.
- Alongside its investment focus, Earlybird highlighted changes to its internal structure and operations. This includes the introduction of what it calls a “perpetual ownership model,” under which the firm remains fully owned by its active partners. The firm also pointed to increased use of AI tools across sourcing, portfolio support, and internal operations.
