Mundi Ventures Closes On €750m For Kembara, Its Largest Deep Tech And Climate Fund

Europe invests billions into early-stage ambiance startups, only to watch excessively galore neglect astatine Series B, according to a recent report. But caller costs are being raised to capable this gap, and Spain-based Mundi Ventures’ latest fund, Kembara Fund I, is 1 of them.

After securing a €350 cardinal commitment from nan European Investment Fund nether nan European Tech Champions Initiative successful 2024, Mundii Ventures has conscionable completed a €750 cardinal first adjacent for Kembara, its 5th money and largest to date. 

Regulatory filing from Spain reveals that nan money — focused connected heavy tech — could moreover agelong its last closing to €1.25 billion. But according to Kembara co-founder and wide partner Yann de Vries, getting to €750 cardinal successful 2 years arsenic a first money successful this situation “was not easy.”

Kembara is managed by a master squad wrong Mundi Ventures, pinch offices successful Madrid, London, Barcelona and Paris. Mundi Ventures laminitis Javier Santiso is now besides a co-founder and GP of nan Kembara fund, which has now disclosed nan afloat database of its elder partners.

Alongside de Vries and Santiso, ambiance tech VC Robert Trezona and heavy tech VC Pierre Festal person besides joined arsenic wide partners, and erstwhile Atomico partner Siraj Khaliq arsenic elder strategical advisor.

Their individual way records helped them raise costs from organization backers waking up to nan request for European maturation superior that tin move its many assemblage spinouts into sizable businesses pinch business synergies. But it besides gave them a front-row spot into nan broader increasing pains of European ambiance and heavy tech startups — particularly to de Vries. 

A seasoned task capitalist who founded Redpoint eVentures Brazil and later became a partner astatine Atomico, de Vries had moved to nan different broadside of nan array to join German electrical craft startup Lilium — only for nan institution to cease operations successful 2024 aft raising much than $1 cardinal and going nationalist via a SPAC. 

In de Vries’ view, Lilium went bankrupt because it couldn’t find nan maturation superior it needed, but this “traumatizing experience” besides had a metallic lining. “I saw truthful galore astonishing teams successful Europe that were going done nan aforesaid journey,” he said. “[Europe] doesn’t person an invention problem. It doesn’t person a startup problem. The problem it has is simply a scale-up problem.”

Kembara’s saccharine spot will beryllium Series B and C rounds, pinch plans to constitute first checks from €15 cardinal to €40 cardinal into immoderate 20 companies. But nan fund’s size leaves room for follow-ons to thief portfolio startups standard manufacturing and grow globally, and full investments could spell up to €100 cardinal per company. 

That’s much than nan afloat size of galore European funds, though this whitethorn beryllium changing: heavy tech VC patient Elaia and plus head Lazard teamed up to shape LEC (Lazard Elaia Capital), whose first investments will scope betwixt €20 cardinal and €60 cardinal per company, while operator-led money Plural is reportedly raising a caller money of up to €1 billion.

Still, nan capital-intensive quality of astir ambiance and deeptech growth-stage companies intends that moreover ample VC checks tin only spell truthful far. One instruction de Vries learned from Lilium is that raising only successful equity is very hard, and moreover puts companies successful a difficult spot later on. This inspired Kembara to return a different attack to financing.

“Several of america person lived done this, and what we want to do now is to productize non-dilutive financing for these heavy tech founders to thief them de-risk their early financing and optimize nan superior building to minimize dilution. And we’re bringing successful [limited partners] who […] not only want to put successful nan fund, but besides want to coinvest successful those winners,” de Vries said. 

For these LPs, geopolitics besides plays a domiciled successful wanting to supply maturation superior and task indebtedness to European growth-stage startups. “There’s going to beryllium a batch of support from sovereign wealthiness costs successful Europe, from government, from corporations, to push and thrust for building these European champions successful heavy tech retired of Europe,” de Vries predicted. 

These geopolitical undertones are besides reflected successful Kembara’s assemblage focus, which includes dual usage and defense tech to “protect European sovereignty,” according to a property release. However, de Vries pushed backmost against nan thought that Kembara is simply replacing superior that later-stage European outfits could person raised abroad. 

“There are tons of gems that are nether nan radar successful Europe, that could beryllium scaling into world champions, and that are not realizing their afloat potential.” He said Deepmind is simply a related example, “where they were missing this maturation superior and sold excessively early.” (Google acquired nan institution for more than $500 cardinal successful 2014, but it is now estimated to beryllium worthy billions.)

Keeping European companies European has gained urgency successful galore verticals that overlap pinch Kembara’s thesis, specified arsenic quantum computing, semiconductors and spacetech. But its extremity is to foster world champions that transverse borders. Coincidentally, Kembara intends “to wander” successful Malaysian (although nan squad holds “the humble way to excellence” arsenic an older meaning.)

Beyond nan name, Kembara has Malaysian connections. Santiso is besides nan erstwhile CEO for Europe of Malaysian sovereign wealthiness money Khazanah; and doors could unfastened arsenic galore countries analyse their vulnerability to nan U.S. “In nan 2nd close, we’re going to beryllium looking for world investors, because we want to person world entree to markets, but besides world entree to proviso chain,” de Vries said.

(Pictured from near to correct above: Javier Santiso, Siraj Khaliq, Robert Trezona, Yann de Vries and Pierre Festal.)