European venture capital firm redalpine has closed its early-stage fund, redalpine capital VIII (RAC VIII), at US$250 million.

The fund closed oversubscribed, attracting institutional investors including Aviva Investors, Flexstone Partners and KfW.

RAC VIII will invest in around 20 early-stage companies across Europe, primarily by leading Seed and Series A rounds with initial tickets ranging from US$1 million to US$15 million.

redalpine selects its investments from more than 5,000 companies it reviews annually.

The fund’s first investments include Enact Intelligence, which develops force intelligence technology for robotics, and Helical, which is building a virtual AI lab for reproducible drug discovery.

The third investment is Arlequin AI, which is developing an AI architecture to protect critical systems.

Institutional investors back redalpine’s eighth fund

RAC VIII attracted both returning and new limited partners (LPs), including Aviva Investors, Flexstone Partners and KfW.

redalpine said the investor participation reflects growing institutional commitment in Europe to local deeptech and frontier technology.

The fund also received backing from entrepreneurs, executives with domain expertise and business owners, who offer support to its portfolio companies.

“At a time when global VC markets are competing more intensely than ever for investor capital, we are thrilled to partner with the team at redalpine,”

said Cynthia Chen, Head of Fintech at Aviva Investors.

She added that partnerships like this are vital for portfolio growth and supporting long-term investment outcomes for pension investors.

redalpine started as a single early-stage fund and has since developed into a multi-stage investment platform.

The structure allows it to support founders throughout their growth journeys while keeping more of the value created by European technology companies with European investors, including pension funds.

Two decades of science-led investing

Founded in Zurich in 2006, redalpine has spent two decades investing in frontier technologies spanning fusion energy, AI, robotics and biotechnology.

Half of its investment team consists of trained scientists, including biologists, physicists and engineers, bringing technical expertise to assess complex technologies from their earliest stages.

“Twenty years ago, we started redalpine with the conviction that the most important companies would emerge where software and science meet. That belief hasn’t changed. With RAC VIII, we’re excited to keep backing these founders early, before the opportunity is obvious,”

said Dr Michael Sidler, Founding Partner at redalpine.

redalpine’s portfolio includes more than 100 companies, among them N26, Proxima Fusion, Mistral AI, Basecamp Research and microagi.

The firm said 11 of its portfolio companies have exited since 2023, during a period when exits across the technology sector have been scarce.

Companies backed by RAC VII, its previous early-stage fund, which closed in 2024, have since raised more than US$1.1 billion in total funding.

Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by redalpine