OTB Ventures has collected PLN 750 million to the second deeptech fund, NATO FI among investors
The OTB Ventures Fund closed its second OTB Fund 2 in the amount of PLN 750 million (USD 185 million), above the originally planned size, and all the funds raised, and the second OTB Ventures fund will allocate for investments in European deeptech startups, the fund said. Among the investors of the second fund were, among others, NATO Innovation Fund (NATO Innovation Fund), the European Investment Fund (EIF) or the Foundation for Polish Science.
“The announcement of the final size of our second fund, the largest in terms of the value of the CEE funds, is a testament to trust from our investors. Closing it above the original assumptions is a greater success as it has been made despite the still difficult market. This is largely due to successful investments under the previous fund. The capital accumulated in OTB Fund 2 enables us to continue our mission to support innovative deeptech startups. They benefit from the largest natural resource that Europe can offer, i.e. a unique technological talent, which is also lacking in our country," said Adam Niewiński, co-founder and managing partner of OTB Ventures.
“This is our largest fund to date and reflect the growing importance of Europe as a market for deeptech startups and technological talent. 'Deeptech' is our passion and invariably since the founding of OTB Ventures in 2017, it is the basis of our investment strategy. The closure of the second fund and the investments that we have made so far confirm the legitimacy of this strategy and our commitment to support innovative technological projects created in Europe, including Poland," added Marcin Hejka, co-founder and managing partner of OTB Ventures.
The institutional investors of the OTB Fund 2 are the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), launched by NATO 22 allies at the Madrid summit in 2022, with the aim of supporting startups and other VC funds in the development of innovative deeptech technologies with a high dual-use (civil and military) potential. The OTB Fund 2 investors also include, among others. The European Investment Fund (EIF), Isomer Capital, NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), the Foundation for Polish Science, TDJ Venture, co-founder of Snowflake Marcin Żukowski and OnDean, the fund of the founder of Relativity, also announced.
“OTB Ventures and NATO Innovation Fund share a passion for deeptech technology and startups, investing in ambitious entrepreneurs to ensure a secure future for the billion people of the NATO Alliance. Our flagship fund worth EUR 1 billion is dedicated to investments in deeptech, defence and security, focusing on energy, quantum computers, autonomy, climate and biotechnology. The investments of OTB Ventures are fully in line with our mission,” said Andrea Traversone, Managing Partner at NATO Innovation Fund (NIF).
The fund also pointed out that the investment strategy of the new fund is a continuation of the OTB Fund 1 strategy, with the difference that up to 10% of the fund’s value will be allocated to investments in companies at the seed stage to support the development of promising projects at their initial stage. More than half of the Fund’s funds will be allocated to follow-on investments, supporting further funding rounds of the most promising projects. OTB Ventures, in line with its current investment strategy, will include significant minority stakes in portfolio companies.
From the first closure of the second fund in November 2022. OTB Ventures made 9 investments: 3 in the company in series A (including KYP.ai, i.e. the platform for automation and productivity analysis in enterprises) and 6 seed investments, including Veridion, a startup that creates IT-based business intelligence technology. After the investment in Semron, a Dresden startup announced in January this year, producing AI chips with high efficiency and ultra-low energy consumption, OTB Ventures increased its involvement in the area of semiconductor technologies. The portfolio in SpaceTech’s vertical field has also grown, through investments in ClearSpace space debris removal leader, as well as at Atmos Space Cargo and Kurs Orbital, an Italian startup democratizing the market for services in orbit and space logistics.
OTB Ventures is a leading European fund of VC, specializing in investments in deeptech startups. Supports companies in early stages of development (seed and series A), operating in the areas of SpaceTech, Enterprise Automation & AI, Cybersecurity and FinTech Infrastructure. OTB Ventures was founded by Grzegorz Jankilevs, Marcin Hejka and Adam Niewiński. Currently, OTB Ventures manages more than $350 million, has offices in Amsterdam and Warsaw, and is the largest Venture Capital fund in the CEE region, according to the company.
The NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) is a 1 billion euros Venture Capital fund dedicated to supporting technological projects of ambitious entrepreneurs aimed at ensuring a secure future for one billion NATO allied citizens. The fund focuses on investments at the interface of deeptech, defense and security, focusing on areas such as energy, quantum computers, autonomy, climate and biotechnology. NIF operates both as a VC fund by conducting investments in technology startups and as fund-of-funds.
