Europe’s startup scene is still a tough place to build. Funding is tight, investors chase trends rather than sticking around, and founders are left searching for real support and lasting connections. That’s where b2venture steps in.
For 25 years, they’ve mixed institutional capital with the power of 350+ angels who roll up their sleeves, share their own founder stories, and open doors across Europe. Florian Schweitzer, partner at b2venture, tells TFN, “In practice, this means that founders can tap into highly relevant operators and experts exactly when it matters, whether for customer introductions, early enterprise pilots, hiring key roles, go-to-market strategy or sparring on complex product and regulatory questions. We activate this support in a very targeted way, based on concrete founder needs.”
He adds, “With Fund V, we are doubling down on the intersection between founders and angels. Our goal is to make this collaboration even more structured, faster and more outcome-driven, while preserving the trust and long-term mindset that defines the community.”
Today, they’ve just closed Fund V at a €150M hard cap, their biggest yet, to back 35 tech companies ready to scale. Track record speaks for itself: 11 IPOs, a unicorn in every fund, and names like DeepL, SumUp, and Raisin in the portfolio.
Identifying and supporting Europe’s next major technology leaders for long-term growth
b2venture started back in 2000, right on the Swiss-German border, and has kept pace with every shift, from the early internet days to today’s AI wave. Florian Schweitzer and Jan-Hendrik Bürk are still at the helm. Jochen Gutbrod, who’s been key for Raisin and Blacklane since 2014, is now moving into the angel network, while Mathias Ockenfels joins to bring even more marketplace know-how.
What sets them apart? Founder loyalty, plain and simple. They show up early, stick around, and turn every exit into a new generation of backers. That approach puts b2venture in the same league as Point Nine, Atlantic Labs, Earlybird, and Seedcamp.
b2venture’s portfolio includes Nautica’s robotic hull cleaning, Hive Robotics’ drones and rovers, Augmented Industries’ AI factory training, and Assemblean’s on-demand manufacturing for complex parts.
What about a diversity strategy?
When we asked about the diversity strategy, Schweitzer comments, “Diversity and inclusion are important to us at both the GP level and across our portfolio, and we actively support diverse founding teams, including female founders, for example with Augmented Industries, Edurino, DudeChem, Yendou, Orus Energy, assemblean.”
“At the same time, our investment decisions are driven first and foremost by founder quality, ambition, and the strength of the business and technology. This ties directly to our values and how we operate: a long-term, founder-first approach rooted in integrity, continuity, and community. Practically, we aim to broaden our sourcing channels, leverage our 350+ angel community to open doors and provide mentorship, and support teams over the long run — so the best founders, from all backgrounds, can build category-defining European companies,” he continues.
What’s next?
Fund V is already in action, backing startups across AI, robotics, manufacturing, and infrastructure. Schweitzer concludes, “Our early investments in Fund V already give a clear sense of where this is heading. Across construction, manufacturing, maritime, drug discovery, and defence-adjacent autonomous systems, we’ve backed a mix of robotics-led companies and B2B platforms. At a use-case level, what excites us are autonomous systems operating in complex physical environments, AI-driven platforms modernising industrial workflows, and new production or service models that make traditionally capital-intensive sectors faster and more flexible. A good example is Nautica Technologies, which is building autonomous underwater robotics for real-time inspection of offshore assets.”
Schweitzer adds, “More broadly, we’re backing founders building core infrastructure and enabling technologies that can compound over time, and teams with the ambition and execution strength to build enduring European deep-tech leaders.”
