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Focused on start-ups in the DACH region, the Amadeus Apex Technology Fund is looking for ‘unique and defendable technology’.
European venture capital firms Amadeus Capital Partners and Apex Ventures have together created a new €80m fund for early-stage start-ups in the deep-tech space.
The Amadeus Apex Technology Fund announced today (22 February) that it has already had its first close of €28m and invested in its first start-up, Okapi: Orbits. Based in Germany, Okapi is space traffic management software company which raised €5.5m with the help of Apex last year.
Through the Amadeus Apex fund, deep-tech start-ups innovating in areas ranging from climate and space to medicine will have access to investment that can help them scale and grow their business ideas. Start-ups from Germany, Austria and Switzerland will be given prominence.
“Major technological breakthroughs are occurring at an accelerated pace with profound changes to our lives and society, and more talent is gravitating towards purpose-driven ideas,” said Anne Glover, CEO and co-Founder of Amadeus.
“In the last couple of years, the world has seen significant breakthroughs in response to crises, and deep-tech entrepreneurs have seen these crises as an opportunity. History repeatedly shows that the most successful ventures are born out of these times.”
The Amadeus Apex Technology Fund will initially invest between €1-1.5m in seed and Series A stage deep-tech ventures with “unique and defendable technology” based on “significant scientific advances”.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum technology, photonics, space and robotics are some of the areas in which the fund is looking to invest.
Wolfgang Neubert, general partner oat Apex, said that there is a growing deep-tech opportunity in Europe, with the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) as a particularly “excellent breeding ground” for innovation in the space because of the presence of many top universities.
“When combined, the per capita number of patents filed across Switzerland, Germany and Austria tops the rest of Europe. The region has the largest developer pool with over 1m people,” Neubert said.
“But deep-tech funding in Europe is still scarce, which presents a great opportunity for Apex and Amadeus to collaborate with this fund and scale more great European deep-tech companies.”
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