seed+speed Ventures closes €90 million fund for Enterprise AI

The Berlin-based early-stage fund seed+speed Ventures by Carsten Maschmeyer and Alexander Kölpin has completed fundraising for its third fund with €90 million. The original target size was €30 million. With investor approval, the fund raised its hard cap twice. seed+speed III invests in European B2B and Enterprise software startups in the Pre-Seed and Seed phases that develop AI as core technology or provide tools to use AI safely and effectively in corporate operations. Initial tickets range from €500,000 to €1.5 million; for follow-on rounds, the fund provides several million per startup.

“We firmly believe in AI from Europe”

The fund’s focus lies on the safe introduction and use of AI in corporate operations. This spans security, data protection, and governance through to quality, cost control, and measurable productivity. Funders include institutional investors such as banks and foundations, media groups, family offices, industrial holdings, professionals from legal and tax sectors, real estate entrepreneurs, and high-net-worth individuals.

Carsten Maschmeyer explains: “If Europe is to hold its own in the global AI competition, we urgently need to foster innovation. We firmly believe in AI from Europe. There are strong, innovative founders here with inventive spirit and world-class technology. What’s often lacking is the power to build large companies from it – and that’s where we help. We’re particularly proud that several successful founders from the first two seed+speed funds have joined as investors after their exits. That’s a strong signal of trust.”

“A powerful Early-Stage vehicle for Enterprise AI”

With a fund size of €90 million, the seed+speed team now also deploys larger tickets. This allows them to act more agilely in lead and co-lead positions as well as a follow investor. The fund plans investments in seven to nine new startups per year. seed+speed supports portfolio startups especially in building scalable go-to-market structures across Europe. Additionally, the fund provides founders with a dedicated support team for sales, PR, marketing, and social media.

“The question is no longer whether companies will use AI, but how to remain competitive. With €90 million, we’ve created a powerful early-stage vehicle for Enterprise AI in Europe. We deliberately invest early in founder teams and support further fundraising, go-to-market, and scaling through sales, so that European technology becomes solutions that set international standards,” says Alexander Kölpin.

seed+speed Ventures now invests outside the DACH region

While the first two funds focused on startups from the German-speaking region, seed+speed III opens for the first time to European startups outside the DACH region. Fundraising began in summer 2024; since then, the investment team has already invested in 13 startups.

Current investments include the Vienna-based startup Optimuse, which creates simulations and analyses for optimal building system design. seed+speed Ventures participated in the startup’s €4 million round from last October (we reported).