An angel investor in UK AI unicorn ElevenLabs and Revolut has launched a $15m solo GP fund to back pre-seed and seed stage founders building startups across AI, robotics, and defence.
Carles Reina has launched Baobab Ventures, an “oversubscribed” fund backed by institutional LPs Cendana Capital, Isomer Capital, RSJ Investments, Emergence Ventures, and Cyber Fund.
Partners from Concept Ventures, Credo Ventures, as well as business angel and professional football player Mario Goetze and deep tech investor doctor Fatima Godall are also backing it.
Reina currently works as the GTM (Go-To-Market) lead at ElevenLabs, the voice AI startup now valued at $6.6bn, a role he will continue in alongside Baobab Ventures.
An early investor in ElevenLabs, he also became the company’s fourth hire.
Baobab Ventures will make average investments of $300,000 and $350,000 in pre-seed and seed stage startups, it said.
According to the fund, its philosophy is that building momentum quickly is the most important part of a startup journey, while Reina will be focused on helping founders develop and execute their GTM, operations, and product strategies, as well as providing hands-on support with customer pitches, contract negotiations, and critical hires.
London and Barcelona-based, Baobab Ventures is a European fund with a global mandate, backing early-stage technical founders operating with an international expansion mindset from day one, it said.
Half of the fund’s investments will be focused on Europe, with the rest to be deployed in the US and other markets.
Reina said: “Building startups has dramatically changed in the last few years. Sales cycles are faster, there are hundreds of competitors within months, and AI has killed cold outreach conversion rates.
"Founders need to move incredibly quickly whilst building a sales and growth motion fit for the AI age. To do that, they need operators on their cap table who can draw on relevant frontline experience from the AI era and who are hands-on with their help.
"This AI-informed operator experience is a clear gap in the European landscape and it’s one I believe Baobab can fill.”
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments