Backing the Builders

2025 was a turning point for Europe: it was vital to stay competitive on the global stage and back the companies building from here. It was a year of conviction. This meant 11 bold and early bets on breakthrough companies, but also doubling down 9 times on champions across the portfolio. 

We announced 9 new companies in the Earlybird portfolio, with 2 more under wraps, spanning AI, software infrastructure, and the next wave of European industrial innovation. Each round told its own story of conviction, collaboration, and timing. This high-frequency energy keeps us close to tech’s cutting edge, signing term sheets with teams across Spain, Germany, Lithuania, the UK, and more!

We led a $3.9M pre-seed round for SLNG, supporting the team’s mission to build Europe’s AI voice infrastructure, as well as TopK’s $5.5M seed round to help advance AI-native search infrastructure, designed for enterprise scale. Our $13M seed investment in SpAItial backed one of the best teams developing 3D world models, combining AI and 3D data to reshape how industries design, simulate, and build. Sintra AI’s $17M seed, also led by us, builds AI employees for small to medium-sized companies to help them with marketing, sales, strategy, recruiting, and everything in between.

That industrious momentum carried into more verticals: We backed Aris Machina’s $10.7M pre-seed round, building the agentic OS for modern manufacturing, and led Brandback’s $7.4M seed round to support its mission of reinventing brand analytics for the era of real-time data. Meanwhile, Arago’s $26M seed, co-led with Protagonist and Visionaries Tomorrow, was among Europe’s most notable early-stage rounds in 2025, bringing together three funds aligned on the same long-term thesis around autonomous decision-making systems.

To seal November, we led London-based Neuracore’s $3M pre-seed as they push the frontier of neuro-computing and brain-inspired architectures. We went out with a bang in December: since backing Freiburg-based Black Forest Labs (BFL) in 2024, we announced our follow-on support, culminating in combined Series A & B rounds of $450M+! The BFL team continues to advance visual AI with strong research foundations, real adoption, and a commitment to responsible, open systems. 

It’s a huge signal for Europe that category-shaping companies are sourced from here, and not always emerging from the traditional urban centers, but rather tapping into research and university roots. 

Apart from the fresh funding for new companies, we doubled down across 9 existing portfolio companies. With these commitments, we continue to back companies shaping the future across enterprise AI, fintech, and deeptech.

Growing with Purpose

As Earlybird continues to evolve, so does the team behind our mission. In 2025, seven new colleagues joined us across different departments. Having fresh talent in Engineering, Finance, HR & People, and Office Management means strengthening the foundation of how we build, support, and scale our efforts. 

Among them, Jan Riethmayer, VP Engineering, returned to Berlin after a decade of founding and scaling startups in London to lead Earlybird’s internal data intelligence platform, EagleEye. We also welcomed Sebastian Schaum as Head of Finance, bringing his years of experience from PwC and a sharp focus on structure and transparency to our operations. In Munich, Theresa Bruckner joined as Senior HR & Talent Manager, driving recruiting, culture, and professional development to help shape the next phase of Earlybird’s growth.

Beyond the new joiners, 2025 marked a milestone year for ensuring longstanding stewardship at the partner level. Andre Retterath, Paul Klemm, and Tim Rehder were each announced as General Partners, reflecting their long-term contributions to building Earlybird’s platform and portfolio. Ayush Jain of our London team was made Partner, Growth Investments, and steadfastly contributes to our strategic development, especially given his expertise in GTM and scaling startups.  Ferdinand Dansard advanced to Associate, continuing his work with the next generation of European founders. Alessandra Mazzilli was promoted to Principal in our London office, recognizing her growing role in shaping investments and supporting founders across the portfolio. And Cecile Roulet-Veli, previously Senior Accountant, transitioned into a new role as People Operations Manager, bridging finance and HR to strengthen Earlybird’s internal infrastructure.

Breakthroughs and Brand Refresh

2025 was a year of breakthroughs - for our portfolio, our founders, and for how we tell their stories. Our refreshed brand and website marked the next step in that journey: a reset of how Earlybird shows up across content, storytelling, and events. What began as a design update became a statement of intent - sharper, stronger, and more aligned with the energy of the teams we back.

Since the re-launch, the new identity has become the backbone of our communications, helping us amplify the people and ideas driving European innovation forward. The website has seen stronger engagement and time-on-page metrics, and our owned channels now tell a more cohesive story that mirrors the diversity of our platform and our portfolio. More than a new look, the refresh captured the momentum we’ve built. All in from day one, and still accelerating. 

A New Media Landscape

If 2024 was the year of steady storytelling, 2025 proved that Earlybird’s mission resonates across the European tech landscape. Especially given the changes across the media landscape, we made extra effort to support it and interact with journalists. With over 100 media mentions this year, from feature interviews and expert insights, to thought pieces and portfolio spotlights, Earlybird ecosystem perspectives were present wherever the conversation on European innovation took place.

Our partners and principals brought diverse topics to the table: from AI and climate tech to venture strategy and exits. Earlybird appeared on platforms like Bloomberg, Börsen-Zeitung, Forbes, Startup Insider, Sifted, TechCrunch, and Tech EU as well as in podcasts including Mannheim Investment Club, Riding Unicorns, Scaling Nerds, Gründerszene, and many more. 

Beyond traditional media, we amplified those stories across our own channels, creating a steady drumbeat for more visibility on developing tech trends and shapers in Europe.

Year-round Event Season

With AI and automation top-of-mind, in-person exchange is increasingly valuable. In 2025, we hosted 25 events and gathered ecosystem players through a mix of new and recurring formats across Europe.

In Spring, for Girls’ Day, we opened our Berlin and Munich offices to give students a behind-the-scenes look into venture capital, tech, and startup life. A day full of questions, ideas, and a glimpse into what the next generation of innovators might look like. Summer marked the 6th edition of Vision Lab Demo Day, where global founders in Germany pitched their ideas. Fall saw the kick-off of Vision Lab Cohort 7. 

This year, we launched Gradient Descending, our AI roundtable series led by the investment team. Across London and Dublin, conversations among founders, operators, and experts spanned infrastructure to regulation and the future of European AI. 

We also kicked off the first edition of the VC Finance Club in Berlin and hosted VC Comms Breakfasts in Berlin with friends from World Fund, HV Capital, AENU, Vsquared, DWR Eco, Backed VC, Planet A, and more. Thank you to all our hosts and guests for being part of this growing European community.

Going Global

With an active footprint across the continent, Earlybird remained close to the pulse of European innovation throughout 2025. Our teams joined panels, hosted sessions, and connected with founders at leading tech gatherings in 15 countries, from Bits & Pretzels (Munich) and Slush (Helsinki) to Tech eu Summit (London) and DTM (Berlin).

We made stops in Zurich, Vienna, Budapest, and Amsterdam for the 0100 Conference series, shared insights at Deep Tech Days and Tech Tour in Paris, and continued to represent Earlybird in New York and Prague and at events like Start Summit in St. Gallen, SaaStock in Dublin, How to Web in Bucharest, and South Summit in both Madrid and New York.

2025 Review Earlybird Health

2025 has been a year of fearless science, bold leadership, and tangible breakthroughs at Earlybird Health. We welcomed Dr. Rabab Nasrallah and Dr. Christoph Massner as Partners, marking a new chapter in our journey to back founders who don’t just dream about changing healthcare, they actually do it. Their arrival signals a doubling down on our mission: to identify and nurture the rare teams and technologies that have the power to redefine how medicine is discovered, delivered, and experienced.

This year, we celebrated a landmark exit: ImCheck Therapeutics, acquired at up to €1 billion, a culmination of years of science, clinical validation, and patient-focused strategy. But this was not the only milestone; our portfolio companies achieved FDA clearances, first-in-human dosing, and pivotal clinical trial readouts, from stroke treatments at Perfuze to gene therapy initiatives at GEMMA Biotherapeutics, all moving the needle on real-world healthcare impact.

At the same time, our portfolio expanded with four transformative investments. Hilo is reshaping cardiovascular care, bringing continuous, cuffless blood pressure monitoring to patients in the U.S. with FDA over-the-counter clearance, bridging the gap between clinical reliability and everyday usability. HAYA Therapeutics is breaking new ground in RNA-guided precision medicine, tackling age- and disease-related conditions at a molecular level. Portal Biotech is chasing what many have called the “holy grail” of proteomics: full-length, single-molecule protein sequencing, a technology that promises to unlock entirely new avenues in drug discovery and precision medicine. And Axon Vascular Europe is pioneering minimally invasive, implant-free neurocardiovascular therapies, offering fresh hope for patients where few options exist.

Yet 2025 was about more than numbers. It was about connection, collaboration, and cultivating the ecosystem that makes breakthroughs possible. From Digital Health Cocktail Hours in Berlin, to Breaking 7% dinners across Europe for women in Life Science investment, we created spaces for founders, investors, and experts to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and accelerate adoption of the next generation of healthcare innovation. These moments remind us that progress happens when vision meets courage, and ambition is paired with rigorous science.

As the year closes, what stands out is not just the growth of our portfolio or the accolades we celebrate, but the people driving it: founders daring to challenge the impossible, leaders steering bold new directions, and teams across Earlybird Health committed to turning complex science into concrete change. 2025 has proven that with fearless leadership, deep expertise, and relentless curiosity, transformative healthcare is not just possible, it’s happening right now.

What’s Next!?

While the past doesn’t predict the future, we envision even more stories from across Europe, especially from our Munich and London offices, where our teams are expanding. We also see European companies having an outsized and global impact. We look forward to driving and curating more in-person events and seeing you there! 

Keep up with our portfolio wins on our LinkedIn and X channels, and discover us on Instagram too.
Want to read more from Earlybird? See what happened at our London AGM here.