Cardumen Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Cardumen Capital is a global venture capital and asset management firm, headquartered in Madrid with an office in Tel Aviv, that invests in what it calls DeepTech: companies with a strong technological component. Its stated tagline is "bringing the future into the present." The partners describe themselves as DeepTech investors, founders and operators with more than a decade of investment experience helping entrepreneurs build, scale and sell technology companies. The name means a shoal of fish of different species but similar sizes that swim together to move faster and avoid predators, which is how the firm frames its relationship with founders, investors and its team.
The firm says it has deep understanding of AI, cybersecurity and big data, and that these technologies converge across many industries. It does both software and hardware, specializes in B2B and B2B2C, favors product-led growth go-to-market, and would consider excellent B2C teams while saying that is not its area of comfort. The firm runs three strategies: a DeepTech venture fund, an AgriFoodTech venture fund, and a fund-of-funds program.
Sector Focus
- Artificial Intelligence: software that applies AI to create products.
- Big Data: analytics, databases, data management, cataloguing, compliance and decision support (illumex, IVIX).
- Cybersecurity: device-agnostic across IT, OT and IoT (DoControl, Malanta, Verax AI, Vendict).
- AgriFoodTech: early-stage European AgriTech and FoodTech, with B2B emphasis on agritech, food science and the circular economy (Incapto, Tasty Urban, Biographica).
- Portfolio tags on its site also include developer tools, gaming, Industry 4.0 and alternative proteins.
Stage Focus
The DeepTech fund makes initial investments at Pre-seed and Seed, and occasionally Series A. It expects strong market validation and technology de-risking. The AgriFoodTech fund focuses mainly on Seed. The portfolio page also shows Series B and Series C+ entries (Coretigo, DoControl, Incapto, Humavox), which look like follow-on positions or later-stage participation.
Check Size
- DeepTech: initial checks of $750K to $4M depending on round and opportunity.
- AgriFoodTech: initial checks of $750K to $1.5M.
- Fund of funds: typically $2M to $5M per fund commitment.
Lead Tendency
The site does not state whether Cardumen leads. It says it wants to be "the most active investor on your cap table" and that it expects to take board-level involvement and mobilize its network. Public coverage suggests it both leads early rounds and participates in syndicates. Recorded as unknown.
Recent Activity
- Raised $120M for its second DeepTech fund (reported January 2024), aimed at early-stage Israeli startups; an earlier $60M DeepTech fund was reported in March 2020.
- Launched a EUR 20M Cardumen Opportunity Fund (LinkedIn announcement, late 2023).
- Portfolio company illumex was acquired by NVIDIA; Cardumen announced a Taiwan-based APAC partner following the deal (March 2026).
- Tracxn shows several 2026 investments, including Uvi and Blee.
- Co-founder Gonzalo Martinez de Azagra contributed to the CTech (Calcalist) VC Survey 2026 on liquidity (January 2026).
Fund status is treated as actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm reports 40+ current portfolio companies and $400M+ AUM. Exits listed on the portfolio page include illumex (NVIDIA). Other notable names: Second Nature (AI sales role-play), DoControl (SaaS data security), Coretigo, Humavox, Incapto, Munch, Peech, Lendai and Verax AI. Fund-of-funds positions include Columbus Life Sciences IV, Learn Capital Fund V, Q Impact Fund II and the Ecosystem Integrity Fund. The portfolio page is a logo wall with weak captions, so company names were taken from the page's link slugs and logo file names, and domains were left null.
Team
- Gonzalo Martinez de Azagra, Founder and General Partner
- Igor de la Sota, Founder and General Partner
- Enrique Burguillos, CFO
- Jorge Rodriguez, Head of M&A
- Alberto Criado, Principal
- Juan Vidri, Principal
- Noa Shamay, Principal (MEA)
- Stan Yu, Venture Partner (MEA)
- Associates, analysts and operations staff in Madrid and Tel Aviv
Decision Process
Two partners must agree to pursue an opportunity before due diligence starts. Diligence includes team reference checks through the firm's network, calls with design partners and early customers, and a request for the business plan, cap table, competitor analysis and product roadmap. The firm commits to feedback if it passes. Treated as a partnership process.
Founder Preferences
The firm backs founders it describes as extraordinary and mission-driven, and says it is people-centric: it helps with hiring and team dynamics. Founders with technical depth and early market validation fit best.
Value-Add (Scale Platform)
A dedicated platform team offers storytelling and strategic narrative, fundraising strategy and investor introductions, sales lead generation (acting as an SDR), PR and marketing, pitch deck review, product and marketing strategy, and M&A and exit support.
Geographic Focus
DeepTech: Israel, Europe and North America, with a Tel Aviv office and an APAC partner in Taiwan. AgriFoodTech: early-stage European companies. Investors in the firm are spread across Europe, Latin America and Asia, mainly institutions and corporations in energy, infrastructure, banking, logistics and insurance.