Over four years, this fund invested EUR 18.5 million into 20 startups worldwide, each with unique, advanced technologies. The new Tensor Ventures fund aims for a size of EUR 50 million, allowing investors to once again access unique opportunities in quantum technologies, biotech, security tech, Software 2.0, energy, and climate tech. In addition, the new fund will now include the opportunity to invest in space technologies. Tensor Ventures is also expanding its team, welcoming Ondřej Ptáček (ex-PwC) as CFO and Jan Faflík (ex-RSJ) to lead biotech investments.
“Initially, investors joined because they trusted our expertise. It was something new for them, and they knew it was beneficial to invest early in this fast-growing segment,” explains Roman Smola of Tensor Ventures on the main motivation for deep tech investments. He adds, “More recently, investors have been motivated by the sector’s resilience to fluctuations in global investment trends, with year-over-year stable growth in deep tech investments.”
Through the new fund, targeting EUR 50 million, investors will once again gain access to innovative startups in fields such as quantum technology, biotechnology, security, Software 2.0, and energy and climate tech, both locally and globally. The new fund will allocate half of its resources to the Czech Republic’s best projects, with the remaining half dedicated to promising startups worldwide. This approach builds on Tensor Ventures’ first successful fund, which ranks in the top 20% of VC funds in the market, according to Carta’s statistics.
20 Startups in 4 Years, Two Exits, and the Largest Institutional Investor
The first fund supported 20 early-stage startups with EUR 18.5 million over four years. These technologies often don’t receive traditional investment due to their complexity, which makes estimating their potential challenging.
Thanks to this fund, Tensor Ventures opened doors to technologies in quantum (QC82, Quantagonia, and Beit), biotech (Anari, Solvemed, and HeartBeat.bio), industry security (Veracity Protocol), decentralized technologies (Blockmate and Tatum), Software 2.0 (Pointee, dstack, Stacktape, and Contember), and energy and climate technologies (Bioo).
Two promising startups from this portfolio were acquired by multinational giants: the Czech startup UltimateSuite was acquired by the U.S. company ServiceNow, and the US-Israeli startup Neuronix AI by the U.S. corporation Microchip Technology.
This segment is also drawing the interest of institutional investors. Tensor Ventures recently announced that the European Investment Fund, Europe’s largest institutional investor, is contributing EUR 20 million to the second fund, targeting a total size of EUR 50 million. These funds will primarily support early-stage startups, with the first agreements with promising startups already in the pipeline.
