Max Samuel, the former Thiel Capital investor and SNÖ Ventures General Partner, has launched Off Piste Capital, a new Solo GP venture firm, and held the first close of Off Piste Fund I, with a target of €25 million ($30 million).
Off Piste Fund I is an early-stage venture fund investing in companies building the systems and infrastructure of the future.
Samuel spent seven years at Thiel Capital, Peter Thiel’s private investment office in San Francisco and Los Angeles. After moving to Norway in 2020, he joined SNÖ Ventures as General Partner for 5 years, where he invested across the Nordics and Europe while maintaining the US relationships that define his sourcing edge. His previous experience includes Credit Suisse and Wilson Sonsini. He currently lives in Stavanger, Norway.
Off Piste claims to adopt a two-pronged sourcing strategy. First involves US network access, which includes embedded deal flow access from unique proprietary networks, including the Thiel ecosystem, which includes PayPal Mafia, Thiel Fellowship, Founders Fund, and adjacent networks (SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril alumni). It also involves close relationships with well-connected founders and operators from previous investments (e.g., Starcloud) and with partners at major Tier 1 firms. Off Piste’s small collaborative checks enable flexible co-investment opportunities.
In Europe, Off Piste leverages that same network position to attract the ambitious European founders seeking a direct line to US capital, customers, technology partnerships, and talent.
“Off Piste’s US network position is rare in Europe. Geography is not zero-sum: it is objectively useful to combine US and European capital, experience, and market access. The best European founders know this. Off Piste is built to serve them,” it mentions.
Off Piste has held a first close of its early-stage venture fund with a group of strategic limited partners, including Edition Ventures (fund-of-funds spun out of Thiel Capital, current and former leadership at Thiel Capital, Apeiron Investment Group (a $7 billion investment firm founded and owned by serial entrepreneur Christian Angermayer), Silicon Valley’s premier law firm Wilson Sonsini, leadership from multi-stage funds across the US and Europe, unicorn founders and strategic family offices.
The Norwegian LP base includes Ragnar Horn, Erik Braathen, Aleksander Larsen (co-founder of Stendr, Sky Mavis), and other prominent Norwegian investors who chose to remain anonymous.
Off Piste has already invested in four companies: Stendr, a Norway-based startup developing AI-native command and control for counter-drone operations; Objection, a UK startup supported by Peter Thiel and Balaji Srinivasan, focusing on accountability infrastructure for public information; Beyond Reach Labs, a YC-backed US startup creating advanced deployable space structures for space infrastructure; and Octet, a UK company specialising in cryptographic proof of physical location, backed by Variant and ex/ante investors.
The fund’s co-investor base already includes a16z, Peter Thiel, Balaji Srinivasan, ACME, Variant, ex/ante, Y Combinator, etc.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/04/former-thiel-capital-investor-launches-off-piste-capital-as-solo-gp-with-e25-million-early-stage-fund/
