It’s been a tough few years for new VC fund managers out hunting for investment. Returns have been few and far between, the IPO market is still stuck in the mud and some of Europe’s biggest VCs have been raising even bigger funds.
And yet, first-time fund managers are still giving it a go.
As we have for the past three years, we’re tracking all the Europe-based VC closing funds in 2025. Find out who closed funds — first, or final close — in 2024, 2023 and 2022 here.
33East
HQ: Cyprus
Fund size: Closed €26m, target €37m
Focus: Founders and startups with a connection to Cyprus
Stage: Pre-seed and seed
London- and Cyprus-based VC 33East announced a first close of its first fund in January. It will invest in early-stage founders and startups with a connection to Cyprus — and hopes to turn the country into something of an innovation hub. LPs include the EIF, the Government of Cyprus, the National Recovery and Resilience Fund and the Bank of Cyprus. Initial investments will range between €500k and €1m.
Defiant
HQ: London and Lisbon
Fund size: Closed $30m, target $70m
Focus: B2B SaaS and fintech
Stage: Seed and Series A
Defiant announced a first close of its fund in January. It plans to invest between $1m-10m in B2B SaaS and fintech startups. Its managing partners, Joseph Pizzolato (former Felix Capital investor) and Cam Rail (former founder and trader), are childhood friends. It bills itself as a data-driven VC, and has built a tool to source new deals, analyse pitch decks and score startups. It’s also working on benchmarking tools for startups. LPs include family offices and general partners at Atomico, Cherry Ventures, Hedosophia, Earlybird and Mubadala.
AgileGTM Blockchain Fund
HQ: Lisbon
Fund size: Closed $2m, target $10m
Focus: B2B blockchain startups
Stage: Pre-seed
AgileGTM is a new VC looking for B2B blockchain startups to back across Europe. Its anchor investor in Wood & Company, an investment bank covering central and eastern Europe. It plans to invest in 40-50 companies over the course of the fund, all of which must first go through the team’s go-to-market programme, in-person in Lisbon. AgileGTM invests €150k in return for between 2-6% equity.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/first-time-european-vc-funds-2025/
