United Kingdom Amadeus Capital Partners and from Austria whit companies are pooling their collective venture capital (VC) resources for a new fund specifically targeted at early-stage deep-tech startups.
The duo have raised an initial €28 million ($30 million) for the Amadeus Apex Technology Fund, with plans to close it out at €80 million ($85 million). The fund has already made its first investment, too, taking part in a hitherto undisclosed second closing of German space firm Okapi-Orbits. seed funding round to the tune of $1 million.
The fund’s core investment team includes Amadeus co-founders Anne Glover and Hermann Hauser, joined by Apex partners Andreas Riegler and Wolfgang Neubert.
Amadeus Apex Technology Fund: Anne Glover (Amadeus), Andreas Riegler (APEX), Wolfgang Neubert (APEX), Hermann Hauser (Amadeus) image credits: Amadeus Apex Technology Fund
early stage
The aim of the Amadeus Apex Technology Fund is to invest €1-1.5 million in Series A-stage and start-ups with “unique and defensible technology”, and will include artificial intelligence, quantum computing, mobility and outer space, robotics and others. areas. from the sphere of deep technology. In addition, the fund’s core focus will be on the so-called DACH region, which incorporates Germany, Austria and Switzerland, although there is scope to wander into nearby markets, although this will not include the UK.
“The partnership also enables early-stage investments in other European markets outside of the UK, such as Poland, Denmark and the Netherlands, which are on our radar for everything from quantum technology to photonics to AI,” Riegler explained to TechCrunch. “We have focused on this region because we recognize it as a perfect breeding ground for early stage deep tech innovation, with top universities and a great pool of developers. At the same time, deep tech funding remains low, presenting a huge opportunity for growth.”
Founded in 1997, Cambridge, UK-based Amadeus Capital Partners has made more than 260 investments over the past 25 years, with exits under its name, including network security firm Forescout, which was taken over by a duo of private equity firms for $1.9 billion in 2020. and self-driving startup FiveAI, which was acquired by Bosch last year. Meanwhile, Apex Ventures has made some 40 investments since its formation in Vienna six years ago, the latest of which joined a €2.7 million round of financing in the German biophotonics company Refined Laser Systems.
So while both VC firms have different histories, each has been investing in the deep tech space without a hitch until now, so why partner on this new fund?
“We have collaborated with [Amadeus Capital’s] Hermann Hauser for many years: he was an investor in our [Apex’s] first fund and advisory board member of the firm, and we have multiple joint investments,” Riegler said. “This subsequently led to a close relationship with the Amadeus Capital Partners team. The Amadeus team wanted to expand their initial presence in Europe and turned to Apex Ventures for our local expertise, deal flow and syndication expertise.”
And for Apex, a newcomer to the venture capital scene compared to Amadeus, it taps into a quarter-century of investment experience.
“We benefit greatly from access to more than 25 years of experience and a deep technology network,” Riegler said.
