Vanagon Ventures Closes €20M Fund to Bridge Europe’s Deep Tech Pre-Seed Void
- ByStartupStory | January 19, 2026
Vanagon Ventures has closed a €20 million fund targeting Europe’s overlooked deep tech pre-seed stage, where ambitious founders building quantum computing, synthetic biology, and advanced materials struggle to secure early capital amid risk-averse VCs chasing safer SaaS bets.
The Berlin-based firm, founded by serial entrepreneur Julian Wellershoff, addresses the “valley of death” between research grants and Series A. Vanagon’s hands-on model deploys €250K-€500K checks into 40-50 startups annually, providing lab-to-market navigation including IP strategy, pilot customer intros, and grant stacking from Horizon Europe pots.
Europe’s deep tech paradox – €120B R&D spend yet fragmented funding – creates massive arbitrage. Vanagon exploits this by sourcing from CERN spinouts, Max Planck labs, and ETH Zurich moonshots, delivering 10x better signal through founder-market fit scoring over pitch deck theater.
Fund Strategy and Deployment
The oversubscribed vehicle blends LP commitments from family offices, corporates like Siemens, and public co-investors, targeting 6-8x net returns by capturing 20% of pre-seed deep tech exits. Portfolio construction prioritizes hardware-software convergence plays – think neuromorphic chips meeting edge AI – where Europe leads but capital lags.
Vanagon proves Europe’s brain trust demands patient, sector-specific seed capital. €20 million unlocks the pre-seed engine converting lab breakthroughs into €1B+ unicorns, filling the gap where American funds fear to tread and proving deep tech’s decade arrives through Berlin’s calculated audacity.
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
