NextFin News - Barcelona-based Mundi Ventures announced on February 5, 2026, the first close of its Kembara Fund I at €750 million, marking a significant milestone in the European venture capital landscape. The fund, which has a final target of €1.25 billion, is designed to address the "scale-up bottleneck" that has historically forced European deep tech and climate startups to seek capital in the United States or face premature acquisition. Anchored by a €350 million commitment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) under the European Tech Champions Initiative, Kembara is led by a specialized team including Mundi founder Javier Santiso and former Atomico partner Yann de Vries. The fund plans to lead Series B and C rounds with initial checks ranging from €15 million to €40 million, with the capacity to deploy up to €100 million per company across a portfolio of approximately 20 firms.
The launch of Kembara comes at a critical juncture for the European Union, which produces roughly 28% of global deep tech innovations but sees only 3% of those companies successfully raise growth-stage capital. This disparity has led to what Santiso describes as a "second Renaissance," where the continent requires local growth-stage capital at scale to retain its most promising intellectual property. The fund’s sector focus is broad yet strategic, encompassing artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, space technology, and dual-use defense technologies. By providing substantial follow-on capital, Kembara aims to support the transition from laboratory prototypes to industrial-scale manufacturing, a phase where many European hardware startups have previously faltered.
A core driver behind this massive capital raise is the "traumatizing experience" of the fund’s leadership in the hardware sector. De Vries, who previously served as an executive at the electric aircraft startup Lilium, noted that many European champions fail not due to technological shortcomings, but because of a lack of growth capital tailored to the realities of hard tech. Unlike software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, deep tech ventures require heavy capital expenditure for factories, supply chains, and regulatory certifications. Kembara’s strategy involves "productizing" non-dilutive financing—such as venture debt and asset-backed facilities—alongside equity to optimize capital structures and minimize founder dilution. This hybrid approach is intended to de-risk the capital-intensive leap to commercialization.
The geopolitical implications of the Kembara fund are equally significant. As U.S. President Trump’s administration continues to emphasize "America First" industrial policies and trade protectionism, European policymakers are increasingly focused on "strategic sovereignty." According to the EIF, the European Tech Champions Initiative is a direct response to the need for European-controlled capital to back critical technologies like semiconductors and clean energy. By keeping these companies headquartered in Europe, the fund ensures that the economic benefits and security advantages of breakthrough technologies remain within the continent’s borders. The inclusion of dual-use and defense tech in Kembara’s mandate further underscores this shift toward a more assertive European industrial strategy.
Looking ahead, the success of Kembara will likely serve as a bellwether for the European deep tech ecosystem. If the fund can successfully catalyze €100 million-plus rounds and help its portfolio companies achieve global scale, it may trigger a broader influx of institutional capital into the region’s growth-stage market. However, the challenge remains immense; Kembara enters a competitive field where other large-scale vehicles, such as the Lazard Elaia Capital (LEC) fund and Plural’s €1 billion vehicle, are also vying for the region’s top scale-ups. The trend suggests that the era of European startups being "sold too early" may be coming to an end, replaced by a new generation of industrial giants backed by a deeper, more sophisticated capital stack.
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