b2venture has closed its Fund V at €150 million, reaching the hard cap and marking the firm’s largest early-stage fund to date. The fund is supported by a mix of long-standing and new limited partners, including family offices, institutional investors, and high-net-worth individuals. Several investors have committed across multiple fund generations, reflecting continued support for b2venture’s investment approach.
New institutional investors include asset manager Flexstone and Swiss pension fund Stiftung Abendrot, alongside portfolio entrepreneurs, operators, and long-standing angel investors such as Thomas Hagemann (SevenSenders) and Joachim Schoss.
Supporting Europe’s next generation of technology companies
Fund V will invest in around 35 early-stage startups across Europe, following an industry-agnostic strategy with a focus on scalable, defensible technologies. The fund has already made several investments, including Nautica Technologies, Hive Robotics, Augmented Industries, and Assemblean. These investments reflect b2venture’s focus on deep technology, AI, robotics, manufacturing, automation, and infrastructure companies shaping Europe’s future.
b2venture’s investment approach is centred on long-term collaboration with founders. Fund V continues the firm’s intergenerational model, in which founders may become investors after exiting their companies and contribute experience, networks, and capital to subsequent generations of entrepreneurs. The firm’s continuity across five fund generations reflects the durability of this long-term, community-based approach.
Jan-Hendrik Bürk, Partner at b2venture, explained that venture capital is fundamentally a people-driven business, highlighting the firm’s angel network as a key differentiator in sourcing, selecting, and supporting founders building category-defining companies.
With Fund V, we are strengthening this model to support the next generation of European tech champions with true domain knowledge, not just capital,
Bürk said.
Over the past two decades, b2venture has supported a range of European technology companies, including DeepL, 1KOMMA5°, Raisin, SumUp, Nelly, and Urban Sports Club. The firm has backed at least one unicorn in each fund generation and has been involved in 11 IPOs and more than 30 trade sales. In 2025, b2venture recorded one IPO with Navan and completed several portfolio exits, including Araris Biotech, Beekeeper, and Neptune, which was acquired by OpenAI.
A community-driven investment model and generational transition
b2venture integrates a network of more than 350 experienced angel investors who contribute both capital and operational expertise alongside the firm’s institutional approach.
In 2024, b2venture strengthened its team by appointing Mathias Ockenfels as Partner, while long-standing Partner Jochen Gutbrod transitioned into the firm’s Super Angels network.
b2venture has operated across multiple market cycles, from the early internet era to the current expansion of AI. Throughout this period, the firm has maintained a consistent focus on long-term relationships, continuity, and disciplined investing. Fund V continues this approach, emphasising sustained partnerships based on trust and a long-term perspective.
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