Earlybird VC has closed its eighth early-stage tech fund at €360 million, marking the largest raise in the firm’s history and continuing Earlybird’s consistent fund cadence across market cycles. The fund includes support from large institutions and family offices as part of the LP base. Historically, across all fund streams, Earlybird has raised a new fund every three to four years without exception, throughout bull markets and corrections. Total assets under management stand at €2.5 billion across technology investment strategies, including five Growth Opportunity Funds and Earlybird Health.
From the new fund, Earlybird has already backed promising companies such as Black Forest Labs, SpAItial AI, Sintra AI, Arago, Porters, and Rivia, showcasing the breadth of solutions made-in-Europe. A number of stealth and new investments will be announced.
DeepTech Focus and Early Bets
This instinct to move early on what others haven’t yet recognized, particularly in DeepTech, is a cornerstone of Earlybird’s identity. It’s what led them to recognize Isar Aerospace long before space tech was on the radar, and to Marvel Fusion when laser-based nuclear fusion was mentioned only in academia. Both are now benchmarks of European frontier technology.
New Ownership Model
Building these kinds of challenger companies requires decades, and Earlybird has adapted accordingly. Fund VIII’s closing follows the implementation of a generational concept. Nearly three decades after founding Earlybird, Co-Founders Dr. Hendrik Brandis and Dr. Christian Nagel, and the Partners Paul Klemm, Tim Rehder, and Dr. Andre Retterath, have implemented a novel partnership model: perpetual active ownership. Only active partners will own Earlybird; ownership will always be transferred to active partners. Additionally, Jochen Küst assumes a new Operating Partner role on top of his CFO responsibilities.
While several European VC firms are exploring partial sales or external ownership, Earlybird takes a different path, maintaining independence and ensuring those running the firm have skin in the game. The transition involves no external sale, no outside investors, and is based on the new partners’ obligation to forward the shares to the next succeeding generation, if and when they leave the firm. Through this procedure, Earlybird will always belong only to the active GPs.
Dr. Hendrik Brandis, Partner and Co-Founder: "Andre, Paul, and Tim have been shaping Earlybird for years now. We had structured it so they and the following partner generations own it the same way Christian and I did - completely, and with full responsibility."
AI Transformation and Future Vision
The perpetual ownership model is part of a broader transformation that’s underway. Earlybird has been transforming its operations end-to-end with AI, from how it sources and evaluates deals to how it supports portfolio companies after investment. The goal, however, remains fundamentally the same: finding and backing the best early-stage founders in Europe. Yet now, faster and with even stronger conviction through the firm’s proprietary AI platform.
Dr. Andre Retterath shares: "In Fund VIII, we’re building on decades of experience and an AI-native team with boots on the ground across Europe’s major hubs. The majority of our LPs have backed us across several fund generations, and with our perpetual ownership model in place, it’s our mission to keep evolving without losing sight of the principles that have brought us to where we are today."
European Tech Outlook
Europe is entering a new chapter, with AI accelerating the transformation of entire industries. The companies and technologies that will shape the future are already being built, driven by the depth of talent across the continent. With Fund VIII and the perpetual ownership model in place, Earlybird embarks on a new era that combines three decades of experience with a next generation of partners ready to back exceptional teams across AI Applications, Software Infrastructure, and Deeptech.