Balnord has announced the first close of its debut vehicle, Balnord Fund I, with €70 million raised toward a targeted €100 million by mid-2026. Formed by the former Black Pearls VC team, the fund will invest in frontier and dual-use technologies linked to Europe’s reindustrialization—covering fields such as space systems, healthcare innovation, and industrial resilience. With a geographic focus on the Nordics, Baltics, Poland, and Germany, Balnord plans to support around 22 startups, offering initial tickets between €500,000 and €3 million.
Europe is undergoing the most significant wave of industrialization in decades, and European frontier-tech dual-use technology companies are poised to define the next generation of winners. It is estimated that €1 trillion is ready to be invested annually across the continent, solving the most complex problems and tackling reindustrialization – Balnord believes that the next wave of unicorns will emerge in this space.
“We’re investing in the backbone of European industrialization. We have already invested around €13M in 10 companies. The first four of them raised €40M in subsequent investment rounds, generating revenues of €35M this year,” commented Marcin P. Kowalik, General Partner at Balnord. “There has never been a stronger time for Europe to build resilient and enduring tech companies. We’ve never seen a more significant and liquid opportunity to create and build technologies that will shape the modern world in the coming decade.”
Balnord wants to support Europe in rebuilding its technological autonomy – laying the foundation for Europe’s reindustrialization across space, healthcare, industrial resilience, and more. With an ex-entrepreneur and operator background, Balnord can help founders scale from the first round to exit and beyond.
The new fund will invest in at least 22 companies and can make significant follow-on investments. Initial investments will range from €500K to €3M, with follow-on investments up to €12M per company.
“As a team, we’ve been working together for nine years already, putting together a like-minded group of mission-driven investors and operators with the sole intention of helping founders with their toughest challenges. We’re backing resilient entrepreneurs who are raising the bar on ambition, aiming to build billion-dollar companies across the Baltic Sea Region—where we can make a GDP-level impact. We’re not just investing in companies – we back founders and help them build movements.” added Aleksander Dobrzyniecki, General Partner at Balnord.
Balnord’s partners have a proven track record, having built four early-stage specialist funds that have delivered top-tier returns over the past 10 years. The Balnord team includes General Partners Marcin P. Kowalik and Aleksander Dobrzyniecki, as well as Operating Partners Jarosław Pilarczyk, Wojciech Drewczyński, Hubert Szczołek, and Gabriele Poteliunaite. Balnord’s team is split between Gdansk, Luxembourg, and Berlin.
Balnord has also created a founders board to support its investments, which includes Peter Bialo, Co-founder of DocPlanner, the first Polish company to be valued over $1Bn, and Davis Siksnans, former founder & CEO of Printful, the first Latvian unicorn, and now CEO of Mapon, a leading B2B telematics company.
Balnord Fund I has already invested in 10 companies, including German ATMOS Space Cargo, which is unlocking Europe’s space-to-Earth logistics; Polish Vitvio, which uses computer vision and ambient sensing to digitize operating rooms, tracking and analyzing surgeries and their workflows; and Lithuanian Astrolight, which has created an undetectable laser link between NATO ships, keeping communications up when radio is jammed or denied. Other frontier tech and dual-use investments include companies working across space, industrial resilience, and tech bio.
To date, Balnord has co-invested alongside leading deep tech funds, including Expansion, Matterwave, APEX Ventures, Seraphim, OTB, Inventure, Voima Ventures, and Bek Ventures (formerly Earlybird Digital East).
“This fund will help drive innovation in key sectors such as defence and space, directly supporting the EU’s commitment to addressing pressing challenges. Investing in Balnord enables us to further contribute to the EU’s strategic objectives, ensuring that Europe remains at the forefront of technological innovation and capable of meeting future demands.” said Marjut Falkstedt, EIF Chief Executive.
LPs backing the fund include the European Investment Fund, PFR Ventures, and European family offices, founders, and private investors from around the world. Balnord counts LPs in three continents and 12 countries. Most prior-fund LPs have reinvested in Balnord Fund I; among new LPs, many are founders of its exited portfolio companies.
“Balnord is already putting its raised capital to work, supporting entrepreneurs. Among them are the Polish founders of Microamp, a deep tech project focused on 5G connectivity that previously took part in NATO’s DIANA accelerator, and SATIM, which has recently established partnerships with ICEYE and local armaments companies. We’re also seeing the fund’s strong commitment to fostering the regional deep-tech ecosystem, going well beyond its investment activity. I believe that founders will truly benefit from this approach, and it’s one of the reasons we felt confident allocating our capital to Balnord Fund I,” says Rozalia Urbanek, Board Member of PFR Ventures.
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Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/balnord-launches-e70m-fund/
