Deep tech entrepreneurs in Europe often struggle to find enough funding as their companies grow. While Europe produces almost 30% of the world’s deeptech breakthroughs, only a few firms get major Series B or C investments. Most local funds are not large enough to lead the €50 to €100 million rounds needed for global growth.
Kembara wants to close this funding gap. The firm has already raised €750 million toward its €1 billion growth fund, making it the largest deep-tech-focused growth fund in Europe.
With €350 million from the European Investment Fund and other top backers, Kembara is now investing in companies working on AI, quantum computing, clean energy, robotics, and space. The fund aims to keep Europe’s top innovations local by helping them grow and making it less likely they will be bought or move overseas.
The “second renaissance”
Javier Santiso, who started Mundi Ventures and worked at Telefonica and Khazanah, and Yann de Vries, a former Atomico partner and early Lilium executive, founded Kembara in 2023.
Santiso says their mission is to fund Europe’s “second Renaissance,” comparing Kembara’s support for innovation to the role the Medici played in history. The team has more than 100 years of combined experience in deep tech and growth investing.
Along with Santiso and de Vries, the team includes Robert Trezona (formerly with IP Group), Pierre Festal (Promus Ventures), and Siraj Khaliq, co-founder of The Climate Corporation and a former Atomico partner, who is a strategic advisor.
Together, the partners have worked with companies like SpaceX, Palantir, PsiQuantum, OpenAI, Lilium, Graphcore, Ceres Power, and Anduril. They will invest up to €100 million in each company across advanced computing, AI, robotics, clean energy, and space infrastructure.
Kembara’s partners have focused their careers on deep tech, unlike general tech funds. They have built companies, handled regulatory and manufacturing hurdles, and helped take firms public.
What’s next?
With the first close done, Kembara is eyeing that €1B milestone by 2026, aiming to back around twenty standout companies.
Besides providing funding, the firm wants to set up a Europe-wide platform that links deep tech founders with industry partners, policymakers, and strategic investors to help their technologies become global leaders.
TFN contacted Kembara for a comment regarding diversity and inclusion strategy; no response was received at the time of publication.
