Fundraising in 2025 hasn’t been smooth sailing. IPOs remain scarce, LPs are cautious and capital recycling is low, especially for younger or smaller funds.
But that hasn’t stopped some European VCs from raising serious money: French investors, in particular, dominated the first half of the year, announcing the four biggest new funds.
Familiar names like Cherry Ventures, Project A and Norrsken also raised new pots, alongside a handful of new entrants. A focus on AI, an industry booming worldwide, is a common thread across many new funds. Some VCs are also backing defence startups, as European countries pledge to invest more in building up their militaries.
Here are the 10 biggest fund closes in H1 2025
1/ Atlantic Vantage Point (AVP)
HQ: Paris
Fund size: €1.5bn
Focus: Agnostic
Stage: Growth/late
The corporate venture arm of French insurer AXA announced one of Europe’s largest late-stage VC vehicles ever in April: a first-time €1.5bn growth fund. Backed by the European Investment Fund (EIF), the fund will back up to 18 late-stage companies with tickets ranging from €50m-150m.
2/ Sofinnova Partners
HQ: Paris
Fund size: €1.2bn
Focus: Healthtech, climate tech
Stage: Early/growth
Sofinnova Partners announced a new life sciences-focused fund of just over €1bn in March, pushing its assets under management (AUM) over the €4bn mark. The Paris-headquartered VC, which also has offices in Milan and London, backs startups at every stage across healthcare and sustainability, and expects to support 50-60 new companies with this fresh capital. LPs include sovereign wealth funds, corporates, family offices and institutional investors. Sofinnova has also rolled out an AI platform, Sofinnova.ai, to sharpen its sourcing of deeptech startups.
3/ Cathay Innovation
HQ: Paris
Fund size: $1bn
Focus: AI (healthtech, fintech, consumer, mobility, energy)
Stage: Early/growth/late
Cathay Innovation this year closed its third fund at $1bn, one of the largest AI-focused VC funds in Europe, launched to back startups applying AI across sectors like health, fintech, mobility and energy. The Paris-founded firm invests globally and will back around 30 startups from early to late stages, with cheque sizes from $5m-$100m. LPs include Sanofi, TotalEnergies, Valeo and BNP Paribas Cardif.
4/ Eurazeo
HQ: Paris
Fund size: €650m
Focus: AI (Agnostic)
Stage: Growth
French investor Eurazeo this week closed €650m of a new billion-euro growth fund with the firm expecting to reach a final close of at least €1bn by next year. Backed by the EIF, the fund will invest €20m-€100m in European scaleups applying AI across all sectors. The firm’s growth team now includes 17 investors and five operating partners spread across France, the UK, Germany and Spain.
5/ Schroders
HQ: London
Fund size: $600m
Focus: AI (agnostic)
Stage: Early/growth/late
In May, Schroders closed a $600m global venture fund to back startups, VC funds and secondaries, with a focus on companies working on generative AI. The fund will invest across all stages and geographies and the news came a few months after Schroders completed a first $500m close on a fund for early-stage UK companies, from which it’s backed AI unicorn Synthesia and legaltech Luminance.
6/ Cherry Ventures
HQ: Berlin
Fund size: $500m
Focus: Agnostic
Stage: Early
In February, Cherry Ventures raised $500m for its fifth early-stage fund and an “opportunity fund” investing in startups beyond Series B. The 13-year-old VC, which has backed companies such as speedy grocery delivery site Flink, logistics specialist Forto and spacecraft maker The Exploration Company, is led by a team of five partners with operator and founder backgrounds from big tech companies such as Spotify, Uber and Zalando.
7/ Hitachi Ventures
HQ: Munich
Fund size: $400m
Focus: digital, data centres, energy, future of work, industrial AI and deeptech
Stage: Growth
Munich-based Hitachi Ventures, the VC arm of the Japanese Hitachi Group, in February announced the launch of its largest fund to date: a $400m vehicle focused on AI, industrial tech and deeptech.
8/ Project A
HQ: Berlin
Fund size: €325m
Focus: Defence tech, fintech, AI and supply chain software
Stage: Early
Project A this year raised its largest fund yet, a €325m vehicle to back European startups at pre-seed and seed, with a focus on AI, defence tech, fintech and supply chain software categories. Project A now has €1.2bn in AUM and will invest in 15–20 companies a year with cheques from €1m to €8m. Its LPs include US and European pension funds, corporates and family offices. The firm was one of the first in Germany to make bets on defence tech companies, backing the likes of Quantum Systems and Arx Robotics.
9/ Norrsken
HQ: Stockholm
Fund size: €300m
Focus: AI (climate, health, food, education)
Stage: Early
Sweden’s Norrsken Foundation this year announced a €300m fund to back startups using AI in climate, health, food and education. The capital — deployed through various arms, including Norrsken VC, Norrsken Launcher and Norrsken Accelerator — represents the majority of the nonprofit’s $1bn+ in AUM.
10/ ISAI
HQ: Paris
Fund size: €300m
Focus: Agnostic
Stage: Growth/late
ISAI this year closed a new €300m fund, which will be used to invest in SMEs in France, Southern Europe, Switzerland and the Benelux countries. The fund, twice the size of its predecessor, will invest €10m–50m in 12–15 companies, focusing on growth buyouts and tech growth deals. Over 60% of LPs are institutional — including Flexstone, Swen, Bpifrance and EIF — alongside nearly 500 tech entrepreneurs. The fund’s first deal saw ISAI take a minority stake in French digital temp work platform Staffmatch.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/europes-biggest-new-funds-in-h1-2025/
