42CAP

42CAP Research

Investment Thesis

42CAP is a Munich-based venture capital firm investing under the credo "Peers amongst Entrepreneurs." Founded in 2016, the firm was built by former entrepreneurs who previously scaled two of Europe's largest B2B software companies: eCircle (acquired by Teradata for $250M in 2012) and Hybris (acquired by SAP for $1.4B in 2013 — Europe's first SaaS unicorn).

The core thesis is backing seed-stage, tech- and data-driven B2B software companies across Europe with global ambition. 42CAP organizes their investment principles around "Agility Drivers" — verticalized, consumerized, as-a-service solutions that drive enterprise productivity. They also seek "Seductive Solutions" that solve burning needs with compelling UX, and invest in both enterprise ("whale hunters") and SME/prosumer ("deer hunters") markets.

Sector Focus

42CAP focuses primarily on B2B software and AI, spanning:

• AI-first and AI-enabled business models (a core thesis pillar)
• Developer tools and infrastructure (vector databases, cloud development, DevOps)
• Enterprise SaaS across verticals including manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, legal, and HR
• Frontier technology applications: BioIT, Space, Distributed Ledger, and Quantum Computing
• Data analytics and intelligent automation tools

They explicitly invest in both the application layer and the infrastructure layer, with increasing emphasis on AI-driven and data-driven business models.

Stage Focus

42CAP invests primarily at Seed stage, defined as post-product but pre- or early-revenue companies (product-market fit bets), as well as companies with initial revenues that are scaling. Occasionally they partner even earlier at pre-seed with exceptional teams. They target 20-25 companies per fund, taking significant ownership stakes and committing to the full entrepreneurial journey from seed through Series A and beyond.

Check Size

Initial check: EUR 0.5M to EUR 3M (approximately $500K to $3M USD). 42CAP targets sustainable round sizes that provide 18 months of runway, minimizing the need for frequent fundraising. They explicitly prefer "first money in, last money out" and reserve capital for follow-on investments across the fund life.

Lead Tendency

42CAP typically leads seed rounds. They target significant ownership stakes and prefer a concentrated portfolio of 20-25 companies rather than a "spray and pray" approach. Recent evidence includes leading ALP Bio's $2.2M pre-seed round in April 2026.

Recent Activity

42CAP is currently investing from Fund IV (EUR 100M), which reached final closing in April 2025 (advised by YPOG). Recent investments include:

• ALP Bio AG — $2.2M pre-seed led by 42CAP (April 2026), immunogenicity intelligence for antibody development
• Qdrant — participated in $50M Series B led by AVP, alongside Spark Capital, Unusual Ventures, and Bosch Ventures (March 2026)
• ARX Robotics — co-investment reported August 2025
• NaroIQ — investment reported July 2025

The firm claims a close to 100% conversion rate from seed to Series A, with follow-on investors from Accel, Creandum, Northzone, Atomico, Spark Capital, Balderton, and Lightspeed.

Portfolio Highlights

Notable portfolio companies include:

• Qdrant (vector database; $50M Series B in March 2026 from AVP, Spark Capital, Unusual Ventures)
• Adverity (marketing data intelligence, Vienna; 42CAP founding investor)
• Katana MRP (smart manufacturing ERP, Tallinn; 42CAP founding investor)
• Kaia Health (AI-driven chronic disease therapy)
• Exscientia (AI-driven drug development; former NASDAQ listing)
• Cognee (AI memory engine)
• Mostly AI (synthetic/generative AI for tabular data)
• Shine (financial tools for freelancers, France; 42CAP founding investor)
• Packlink (global shipping API)
• Enlyze (manufacturing quality intelligence)
• Leanspace (digital infrastructure for space missions)
• Apollo Minerva (battlefield management systems; defense tech)
• Candis (digital invoice management)
• CrossEngage (intelligent customer data platform)

Team

• Thomas Wilke, General Partner — Co-founded eCircle, Europe's leading Marketing Tech Company. After acquisition by Teradata in 2012, led global Marketing Cloud Business Unit (1,500 employees). MSc Business Engineering, Karlsruhe and Boston.
• Alex Meyer, General Partner — Initially the VC investor in eCircle, then CFO managing international operations and the Ad Tech Business Unit. Post-acquisition CFO/COO for Teradata Marketing Cloud. MBA from Berkeley, MSc Aero- and Astronautics from TU Munich.
• Moritz Zimmermann, General Partner — Co-founded Hybris, acquired by SAP for $1.4B in 2013 (Europe's first SaaS unicorn). Post-exit CTO of SAP Customer Experience, overseeing 3,000 employees and growing revenue to $1B+ ARR by 2020. MBA from LMU Munich.
• Julian von Fischer, General Partner — Founded a startup before joining 42CAP; deep experience in insurance and healthcare. Early career in consulting at KPMG with focus on Financial Services. BA from University of St. Gallen, MSc from Copenhagen Business School.
• Vincent Pistor, General Partner — Investment partner at 42CAP.
• Johannes Oettingen, Associate — Previously Founders Associate at OCELL (climate-tech, Series A). Organized START Summit at St. Gallen; studied economics and international politics at Bocconi University.
• Pauline Tilla Rittstieg, Investment Manager — Led CEO Office at Alaiko, scaling from 10 to 150+ employees in three years. MSc from TUM in Entrepreneurship and Computer Science.

Decision Process

42CAP operates as a partnership of five General Partners with a collaborative investment committee. They describe their interaction style as "not annoying capital" — ad-hoc, pull-based, and agile. They prefer workshop formats over regular check-in calls, openly articulate opinions, but respect founders' final decisions. They do not participate in regular scheduled board updates unless specifically asked.

Geographic Focus

Europe-first, global-ambition. Portfolio companies span Germany, France, Austria, Estonia, UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, and more. The firm strongly believes in European talent's ability to build global category leaders and has backed founding investors such as Nicolas Reboud (Shine, Paris), Kristjan Vilosius (Katana, Tallinn), and Alexander Igelsboeck (Adverity, Vienna).

Founder Preferences

42CAP seeks product-driven founders with entrepreneurial conviction and long-term commitment. They prefer complementary (holistic) founding teams with deep domain expertise. They explicitly look for founders who want to build great companies rather than chase paper money. They invest in "Whale Hunters" (enterprise B2B) and "Deer Hunters" (SME/prosumer) with equal conviction.