Merantix Capital announced the closing of a €103 million AI-focused fund to support early-stage, AI-native startups across Europe. The new fund will invest in approximately 40 companies across the pre-idea, pre-seed, and seed stages, with a focus on founders building AI-driven solutions for major industries, including logistics, manufacturing, energy, finance, healthcare, life sciences, robotics, enterprise software, and physical AI.
The fund represents the next phase of Merantix Capital’s long-term thesis that Europe’s industrial sectors are primed for transformation through artificial intelligence and machine learning. The firm believes Europe possesses both the technical talent and domain expertise needed to create globally competitive AI companies and intends to help bridge the gap between startups and established industries.
According to the firm, the fund will be split evenly between founders who collaborate with the Merantix team from the earliest “pre-idea” stages and startups that are already operating at the pre-seed and seed stages. Merantix Capital’s investment team is based in Berlin and London and will deploy capital across the European market.
The firm has already begun investing from the new fund, backing companies such as Droidrun, which develops mobile-native AI agent infrastructure, Arqh, which focuses on AI-powered logistics optimization, and Outpost Bio, which applies AI to human microbiology. Additional investments include several stealth companies operating in logistics, manufacturing, recruiting, ERP, energy, and fashion technology.
Merantix Capital operates within the broader Merantix Group ecosystem, which includes the Merantix AI Campus in Berlin, home to more than 80 resident companies and over 300 annual events, as well as the London AI Hub, AI House Davos, and Merantix Momentum, an AI solutions provider with more than 70 AI engineers supporting over 100 enterprise projects each year.
The firm said this ecosystem provides portfolio companies with access to talent, industry expertise, corporate partners, and potential design partners that can help accelerate product development and customer adoption.
The fund’s limited partners include Union Investment, Jungheinrich, KPMG Germany, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, along with a number of family offices and institutional investors. Merantix Capital noted that many of these relationships extend beyond financial backing and involve strategic partnerships focused on AI transformation initiatives, pilot projects, and access to emerging AI startups.
The company said it remains focused on creating stronger connections between Europe’s industrial base and the next generation of AI startups, positioning the region to produce globally significant AI companies.
KEY QUOTES:
“Europe’s industries desperately need to be transformed through AI and machine learning. The technology exists and is developing at a breakneck pace. Thankfully, Europe has the talent and expertise to create and scale global AI champions. What we do next with these ingredients is up to us.”
“Ever since we first founded Merantix a decade ago, we have believed that’s where AI’s true value lies. We see our role as bridging the gap between industry and startups, helping founders with domain expertise to embed deeply and bring AI to life within sectors where we have deep relationships: logistics, manufacturing, energy, finance, healthcare, life sciences, robotics, enterprise, physical AI, and more.”
“We’re already actively deploying from the fund, with investments including Droidrun (mobile-native AI agent infrastructure), Arqh (AI logistics optimization), Outpost Bio (AI for human microbiology), and several other stealth ventures across logistics, manufacturing, recruiting, ERP, energy, and fashion tech.”
Rasmus Rothe and Adrian Locher, Founders, Merantix Capital
