redalpine Closes Oversubscribed $250 Million RAC VIII

Insider Brief

• European venture capital firm redalpine closed its oversubscribed RAC VIII early-stage fund at $250 million to invest in companies combining software and science.
• The fund plans to back around 20 European companies, primarily leading Seed and Series A rounds with initial investments of $1 million to $15 million.
• Initial investments include robotics company Enact Intelligence, AI drug discovery company Helical and critical systems security company Arlequin AI.

PRESS RELEASE — European venture capital firm redalpine today announced the final close of its early-stage fund redalpine capital VIII (RAC VIII) at $250 million. The fund closed oversubscribed, reflecting continued investor appetite for companies building on advances in software and science. 

Founded in Zurich in 2006, redalpine has spent two decades investing in frontier technologies, including in fusion energy, AI, robotics, and biotechnology, before they became established venture themes. Half of redalpine’s investment team are trained scientists, including biologists, physicists, and engineers, bringing the technical expertise to assess complex technologies from the earliest stages.

Dr. Michael Sidler, Founding Partner at redalpine, said: “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.”

Sebastian Becker, General Partner at redalpine, said: “AI is leveling the playing field more than ever. The advantage now lies with whoever understands the underlying science and the hardest problems best, and that has always been Europe’s strength. We’re seeing a new generation of highly ambitious founders who are determined to build and scale world-leading tech companies from here and establish Europe as a global technology power.”

redalpine’s investments include Proxima Fusion, Mistral AI, N26, Basecamp Research, microagi and over 100 other companies. Since 2023, 12 portfolio companies have exited, in a period when exits across the technology sector have been scarce. The companies backed by RAC VII, redalpine’s previous early-stage fund, which closed in 2024, have since raised over $1.1bn in total funding.

Francesco Sciortino, Co-Founder & CEO of Proxima Fusion, a RAC VII portfolio company, said: “redalpine was early in understanding Proxima’s potential for Europe’s energy future and led our Seed round. With RAC VIII, they can bring that same speed and technical depth to more founders tackling genuinely hard and important problems.”

The first investments in RAC VIII include Enact Intelligence, developing force intelligence technology for robotics; Helical, building a virtual AI lab for reproducible drug discovery; and Arlequin AI, developing a new AI architecture to protect critical systems. In total, the fund will invest in around 20 early-stage companies across Europe, selected from over 5,000 per year, primarily leading Seed and Series A rounds with initial tickets of $1-15 million.

RAC VIII attracted both returning and new limited partners, including Aviva Investors, Flexstone Partners and KfW, reflecting a growing commitment from European institutional investors to support local deeptech and frontier technology. The fund is also backed by entrepreneurs, executives with deep domain expertise, and business owners who offer valuable support for redalpine’s portfolio companies.

Cynthia Chen, Head of Fintech at Aviva Investors, said: “redalpine has a proven track record in backing fantastic European businesses that are at the forefront of technology and scientific innovation. 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 and believe it can help us gain greater access to support some of the most exciting, high-growth, disruptive and innovative start-ups across the UK and Europe. We view partnerships like this as being vital for the continued growth of our portfolio and, ultimately, supporting the delivery of long-term investment outcomes for pension investors.”

redalpine began as a single early-stage fund and has since grown into a multi-stage investment platform, enabling the firm to support founders across every stage of their journey. The platform also reflects redalpine’s broader ambition to strengthen Europe’s capital ecosystem and ensure that more of the value created by local technology companies remains with European investors, including pension funds.

Rafael Hubatschek, Partner and Head of Investor Relations at redalpine, said: “European self-confidence is back, and nowhere more visibly than among institutional investors, who are now putting real conviction behind European technology. Our fund platform lets us back founders from Seed to scale, so we can keep supporting them as they grow into global category leaders.”