b2venture

Companies are adopting AI at a rapid speed. AI tools and agents now drive business outcomes at an ever-increasing scale, with an ever-increasing autonomy. Keeping track of the accompanying technical and regulatory complexity is becoming a key issue for AI-enabled organizations. Our portfolio company LatticeFlow AI is closing exactly that gap: their newly launched AI Platform is purpose-built for the agentic era, connecting governance frameworks directly to technical controls. It enables enterprises to understand, control, and govern AI risk with evidence, continuously. Congratulations to Dr. Petar Tsankov and the entire LatticeFlow AI team for this milestone. 

Als mein neuer Startup Insider Podcast mit Jan Thomas zu den Milliardenrunden (Volumen, nicht Bewertung!) von unserer b2venture Portfolio Company NEURA Robotics und Quantum Systems gestern veröffentlicht wurde, titelte SI: "Größte Robotics-Runde der Welt. Größte Defense-Runde Europas. Beide innerhalb weniger Wochen. Beide aus Deutschland." Seitdem hat sich eines der beiden Superlative bereits wieder erledigt: Helsing kann mit seinem 1.8 Mrd. USD Raise die größte Defense-Runde für sich beanspruchen. Das absolut irre deutsche Deeptech-Momentum - irre im positivsten Sinne - reißt nicht ab. Und ich weiß jetzt schon von mindestens zwei anstehenden Mega-Runden, über die ich bei der nächsten Ausgabe berichten kann. Es geht voran in 🇩🇪 und 🇪🇺! Link in den Kommentaren.

We are hiring at b2venture! Our Operations team is looking for a Product Associate, Fund Finance to help build the financial backbone of our investment activity across transactions, portfolio management, valuation and reporting. Working at the intersection of finance and product, you will use automation and AI to move our operations toward a scalable, AI-native finance operating system. → Location: Berlin (preferred) or Munich → Start date: as soon as possible We look forward to hearing from candidates who combine finance expertise with genuine tech fluency – comfortable with financial modeling and SQL, and no stranger to AI-assisted coding tools. You can find the application link in the comments. In case of questions, please reach out to Sven or Fabian.

The space sector in Europe is rapidly evolving. Last month, two of our portfolio companies made major headlines – LiveEO in Handelsblatt, The Exploration Company in Süddeutsche Zeitung. LiveEO is one of Europe's leading AI-powered geospatial intelligence companies. They use satellite data to monitor critical infrastructure – from energy grids to pipelines – helping operators spot risks and respond to incidents before they escalate. Handelsblatt recently reported that Germany's Bundeswehr has named LiveEO as a partner across two competing satellite reconnaissance bids. The Exploration Company builds reusable spacecraft for cargo missions to the International Space Station and beyond. Selected by the European Space Agency as one of the teams building Europe's commercial LEO cargo capability, they're working toward a genuine European alternative to SpaceX-style resupply missions. Süddeutsche Zeitung recently covered their unveiling of a new heavy-lift rocket engine aimed at reducing Europe's reliance on SpaceX. Alongside them is PAVE Space SA, which builds orbital transfer vehicles that move satellites from low Earth orbit to their final operational orbit in under 24 hours, launcher-agnostic and built fully in-house across propulsion, avionics, and control systems. Space is a vertical we've built real conviction in, and companies like these are prime examples of how Europe is catching up in this market and building toward real resilience. All three are growing fast – and all three are looking for talent right now: → LiveEO: Head of Customer Success, Senior Product Designer (Berlin) → The Exploration Company: Senior People Partner (Munich), Test Site Manager (Dubai) → PAVE Space: VP of Systems Engineering, Legal Counsel (Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France) If none of these are quite the right fit, our b2venture Talent Pool is always open – sign up via the link in the comments and be considered for upcoming roles across our portfolio.

We are excited to celebrate two well-earned promotions this month: Jasper Strohkark and Marie Schwertner. Jasper has been promoted from Associate to Investment Manager, and Marie has been promoted from Analyst to Associate. Jasper and Marie have each developed into central talent for our company. Their commitment, curiosity, and growth reflect exactly what we look for as we build the next chapter of b2venture. "What stands out about Jasper is the range of his expertise across Deep Tech – he's always willing to dive into a new corner of a genuinely complex sector. That breadth, paired with how tightly he's woven into our angel network, is rare. It's that drive to keep pushing further that earned him this step up." – Gerrit Jurilj 🇺🇦, Partner "Marie was hands-on from her very first week. She jumped straight in, and her first investment, Sitegeist, closed before she had even settled into the role. She has been in full-on founder mode ever since, traveling long ways to meet founders in person and convince them why b2venture is the right partner. She has handled that pressure from day one with real composure and has developed brilliantly." – Anna Bosch, Principal Our team offsite in Athens, with the Acropolis in view, was the ideal place to celebrate Marie's and Jasper's achievements. Please join us in congratulating them both.

Nicole Herzog, co-founder of b2venture, has been named Business Angel of the Year 2026 by SECA - Swiss Private Equity & Corporate Finance Association. Our partner Dr. Friederike Hoffmann sat down with her to talk about what the award means, the importance of angel networks, and why she believes giving back is not optional.

We’re proud to be leading flyboard’s latest EUR 1.9m funding round – congratulations to Edu, Jaime, Maximilian, and the entire team. flyboard brings AI voice agents to the Spanish mid-market, helping companies automate high-volume calls across sales, operations, and customer support.

A year ago, we launched the Builders' Circle with a simple belief: the most important hiring decision a founder makes should not rely on serendipity. Since then, the program has received more than 500 applications, accepting 30% of them. To date, we have facilitated over 700 introductions across Europe, meaning every builder received 4+ meaningful connections to pre-vetted peers. This week, the Builders' Circle was active in two cities: At the beginning of the week, we joined Esade in Barcelona for an evening organized by five students who had spent six months working with b2venture on the development of Builders' Circle. To wrap up the collaboration, they hosted an event combining an introduction to the program with a pitching challenge and networking session. Yesterday, Marie and Isabel brought together builders from across the region for a curated evening of introductions at our new Munich office — Munich, home to the Technical University of Munich, is a key node in the Alpine Cluster, the innovation corridor that stretches from Lausanne and Zurich through St. Gallen to Munich. The Builders' Circle will continue expanding across the region. If you are looking for a co-founder, applications are open — follow the link in the comments.

As AI systems become more autonomous, knowing whether they behave safely and within acceptable boundaries is becoming a core business requirement. AI governance — the tools and processes that give organizations verifiable control over their AI systems — is quickly moving from a regulatory concern to critical enterprise infrastructure. Gartner® just published its inaugural Magic Quadrant™ for AI Governance Platforms, formally recognizing the category for the first time. A clear signal of how quickly this field is maturing. We are proud that our portfolio company LatticeFlow AI is among the vendors listed. Founded by leading AI researchers from ETH Zürich, LatticeFlow AI helps enterprises move beyond compliance checkboxes toward continuous, evidence-based AI risk management. Congratulations to Dr. Petar Tsankov and the entire team on this well-deserved recognition.

Europe already has many of the ingredients required for energy sovereignty. The technologies exist. Capital is available. Demand continues to grow. What remains is execution. This was one of the key takeaways from our recent b2venture Expert Roundtable on Resilience & Resource Independence, where we discussed grid flexibility, geothermal energy, infrastructure resilience, and the importance of maintaining control over critical software and intelligence layers. Read the full article on our blog: https://lnkd.in/eGeKv9kT A big thank you to Philipp Schröder, Prof. Dr. Rolf Wüstenhagen, Philipp Engelkamp, and Daniel Seidel for sharing their perspectives. We are already looking forward to our next b2venture Expert Roundtable on Autonomous Systems with Sebastian Mores (CEO Hive Robotics), Jan-Hendrik Boelens (CEO Alpine Eagle) and Thomas Pfammatter (Co-Founder Dufour Aerospace). We have a handful of spots remaining for Angel Investors, Family Offices, and VCs active in the space — send us a DM to request your invitation. Dr. Friederike Hoffmann Gerrit Jurilj 🇺🇦