Gaia Capital Partners expands pan-European operations for its 'responsible growth-equity fund'

Gaia Capital Partners, a Paris-founded growth investment firm dedicated to backing entrepreneurs who want to make a positive impact on the world (aside from, you know, money), has pan-European ambitions and it's not afraid to show them.

The VC firm has opened up an office in Berlin and expanded its team with the appointment of Robin Eric Haak, previously co-founder of Jobspotting and SVP at Silicon Valley-based SmartRecruiters, who is tasked to build out its operations across the DACH and Nordics regions as its new GP.

Aside from his entrepreneurial endeavours, Haak gained experience as a late-stage investor at German media giant Axel Springer before going on to co-found the Axel Springer Plug&Play accelerator in Germany, where he invested in over 40 companies, including N26.

Gaia Capital Partners wants to play its part in filling the late-stage investment gap in Europe; as we've indicated in earlier reports, growth-stage funding in these parts is massively on the rise, but a lot of the capital is indeed coming from big pockets outside of the EU.

With offices in Berlin and Paris, along with operating partners in Toronto and New York, Gaia Capital Partners stands out in Europe for a different reason: its two founding partners are both women (in case you're wondering, Europe scores miserably when it comes to gender diversity, both on the founder and VC sides).

Said Alice Albizzati, one of them: "Germany is undoubtedly one of Europe’s main tech hubs and growth capital in the DACH region still mainly stems from international investors. We felt that this was both the right place and the right time to realize our European ambition."

Elina Berrebi, the second founding partner of Gaia, added: "Being both an entrepreneur and an investor, Robin is the right fit for our team. He knows the challenges faced by entrepreneurs while sharing our vision of what an investor should be like. He has high conviction, is mission-driven, and is always ready to roll up his sleeves to support founders to build ambitious companies in Europe."

Gaia Capital Partners' current investment portfolio includes the likes of Welcome to the Jungle, Aircall, Yubo and GoHenry.