European VC firm Atomico has closed new funds totalling $1.24 billion to support the most game-changing founders in the region. The total represents a more than 50% increase on its previous Atomico V, a $820 million fund.
Investment strategy
Since its debut, Atomico has partnered with founders from Series A, expanding to include growth investments in 2011. The new funds have a specialised team for each stage of maturity and follow the same approach.
The $754 million Atomico Growth VI partners with entrepreneurs from Series B to pre-IPO. It sits alongside the $485 million early-stage fund, Atomico Venture VI, which continues the firm’s commitment to working with founders earlier in their journey at Series A, alongside occasional seed opportunities.
Niklas Zennström, founder and CEO, Atomico, said: “European technology is coming of age. Meeting this opportunity requires ambition, hustle and commitment from founders, who need investors with the experience and perspective to see beyond market cycles. Data shows Europe is leading the world at the early stage with a wealth of new start-ups. Our new funds bring them essential fire power to level up and achieve global scale – from Europe.”
Investment opportunity in Europe
The new funds come as the $3 trillion European technology ecosystem begins to rival its global counterparts. Europe now captures close to 30% of global early-stage funding and is creating more new companies than any other region.
This is where Atomico comes into the picture with its European investment mission. In addition to investment, the pan-European VC works to invest across the continent with a track record of promoting global growth.
Who is behind the VC?
Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström launched Atomico in 2006 with the belief that ambitious entrepreneurs can bring a positive transformation across the most critical aspects of the society and economy. The firm’s mission is to further their global progress with a platform offering unmatched support from the early stage to scale.
The VC has offices in London, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm.
Niklas Zennström, founder and CEO, Atomico, said: “European technology is coming of age. Meeting this opportunity requires ambition, hustle and commitment from founders, who need investors with the experience and perspective to see beyond market cycles. Data shows Europe is leading the world at the early stage with a wealth of new start-ups. Our new funds bring them essential fire power to level up and achieve global scale – from Europe.”
Portfolio of investments
Already made around 21 investments, Atomico Growth VI recently partnered with Cologne’s DeepL, Copenhagen’s Corti and London-born virtual clinic provider Pelago. The fund’s investments include Stockholm’s Neko Health, London’s Ben and Dexory, Berlin’s Deeploi, Oslo’s Strise and Zurich’s Lakera. It is compliant with Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
On the whole, Atomico has made over 155 investments across 15 European countries to date. 1 in 6 of its portfolio is currently valued in excess of $1 billion. This includes Aiven, Bird (formerly MessageBird), DeepL, Hinge Health, Job&talent, Klarna, Pipedrive, Stripe, Supercell and Wellhub.
Andreas Cleve, co-founder and CEO, Corti: “When we chose to partner with Atomico, our motivation was more than just funding; it was about finding a collaborator who truly understands what it will take to build the world’s most trusted generative AI for healthcare. As a lean team with a mission to impact billions of patients worldwide, we needed strategic guidance, operational support, and a shared vision for transformative change.”
