Hiro Capital has unveiled a significant expansion of its leadership team and the launch of Hiro III, a new multistage European fund aimed at accelerating growth in Spatial AI, robotics, longevity, games, space, and defence. As part of the initiative, Nick Clegg has joined the firm as General Partner, marking one of the most high-profile leadership additions to a European venture fund this year.
Clegg, formerly President of Global Affairs at Meta and the United Kingdom’s deputy prime minister, will play a central role in the strategy and deployment of Hiro III. The new fund is designed to address the continued shortage of scale-up capital in the United Kingdom and Europe, with the ability to deploy between €5 million and €50 million into companies positioned for rapid expansion.
Hiro III builds on the track record of Hiro Capital’s founding general partners Luke Alvarez, Cherry Freema,n and Ian Livingstone CBE, who have collectively led multiple exits and IPOs totalling more than €10 billion. Their background as founders and operators has shaped Hiro’s investment focus on sectors where deep technical expertise and scale-up execution are essential.
The firm’s longstanding emphasis on spatial computing and frontier technology aligns with what it sees as a significant platform shift driven by immersive computing, world-model AI systems, and robotics. According to the firm, Europe is well-positioned to create substantial enterprise value in these fields but continues to lack sufficient late-stage capital to compete globally.
Alongside Clegg’s appointment, Hiro Capital introduced a newly formed advisory board comprising global leaders in AI, robotics, space, defence, longevity, and design. Members include Professor Yann LeCun, Malcolm Turnbull, Major Tim Peake, Laurent Solly, Professor Deeph Chana, Hannah Gladman, Dr Jack Scannell, Edward van Cutsem, Professor Paul Newman, Caroline Daniel and Loredana Crisan. This advisory council is expected to provide deep sector guidance across Hiro’s four investment pillars: spatial AI and cloud, autonomy and robotics, space and defence, and augmentation and longevity.
The advisory board will support Hiro III as it prepares for its first investments in 2026. The firm notes that this expansion marks the beginning of what it views as a broad technological wave, driven by the convergence of computing with the physical world, the human body, and autonomous systems.
KEY QUOTES:
“I joined HIRO because I share with the founders a belief in the rise of immersive computing and Spatial AI. We will move from staring at the internet, to living in the internet. We are right in the early stages of that platform shift with the convergence of spatial technologies and next-generation world model AIs. Unlike other funds, HIRO is wholly focused on those themes, entirely within Europe.
This is an amazing moment of opportunity for the UK/Europe’s tech ecosystem. We have some of the most outstanding researchers and universities on the planet, and great engineers and entrepreneurs too. Our problem is not a lack of innovation, it is a lack of capital at scale. Europe may have its critics, but we have a vibrant start-up scene which is now ready to accelerate – I believe the HIRO team has the unique geographic and technological reach to help make that happen.”
Nick Clegg, General Partner, HIRO Capital
“I am delighted to be joining the HIRO Advisory Board. We are entering a new phase of AI – an era of systems which can understand the physical world, have persistent memory and which can reason and plan complex actions. HIRO’s track record of investing in spatial technologies, 3D tech, wearables and gaming means they are exceptionally well placed to capitalise on this new wave of opportunity in Europe.”
Professor Yann LeCun, HIRO Advisory Board Member
“I am delighted to welcome Sir Nick to our team, together with Yann and our other amazing Advisory Board members. Today, we are in the early stages of a Cambrian explosion of new technologies, powered by the accelerating convergence of computing into the physical world, onto the human body and into autonomous agents. We all share the same belief in Europe’s potential to be at the forefront of tech and the same passion to play a part in UK & European success. Our new advisory Board has been selected for their vision, their technology expertise and their networks globally and across Europe. We look forward to announcing the first HIRO III investments in 2026.”
Luke Alvarez, Managing Partner, HIRO Capital
