Criteria Venture Tech Research
Investment Thesis
Criteria Venture Tech is a technology-focused venture fund that backs early-stage startups in Europe and the US. It is part of Criteria Capital Risc, the venture management company of CriteriaCaixa, the holding company that manages the wealth of the "la Caixa" Foundation. Its stated focus is deep tech, with particular attention to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data and software infrastructure. The firm says it looks for founding teams building differentiated technology whose advantage comes from strong technology or IP, and it describes its capital as patient, with a long-term view toward sustainable value.
Stage Focus
The site describes two tracks. The first is pre-seed: rounds of EUR 1-4M, taking companies from foundational idea to live MVP, with a focus on Spain and Portugal or companies with Iberian roots. The second is seed: rounds of EUR 2-10M for market-tested solutions and proven technology, with a geographic focus on Europe and occasionally the US. A summary line describes the overall range as pre-seed to pre-Series A, with B2B SaaS and deep tech as the main models.
Check Size
First checks are EUR 0.5-2M at pre-seed and EUR 1-5M at seed, with up to EUR 15M in total including follow-ons. A third summary line cites an initial ticket of EUR 0.5-3M.
Lead Tendency
At pre-seed the fund leads or co-leads. At seed it leads, co-leads or follows. Overall it is classed as both.
Recent Activity
- July 2026: CriteriaCaixa relaunched its science and technology startup investing, committing EUR 300M across two vehicles, Criteria Venture Tech and Criteria Bio Ventures.
- July 2026: 8Layers (AI-native identity security) extended its pre-seed round to EUR 2.5M, led by Criteria Venture Tech.
- August-September 2026: iPronics (silicon photonics optical switches for AI clusters) raised a USD 125M Series B with Nvidia participating.
- March 2026: PLD Space raised a EUR 180M Series C (the fund's own news post and the firm page differ on the exact amount and lead).
- February 2026: Barbara raised a strategic round led by Aramco Ventures.
- January 2026: exits of Wallapop (to Naver) and Build38 (to OneSpan).
- The fund also publishes cybersecurity market maps (offensive security, AppSec auto-remediation).
Fund status is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm reports 92 companies invested in since its 2002 founding, 34 exits and 24 active portfolio companies, with an average of 6x further capital raised after its first investment. Named exits include Vilynx (Apple), Playgiga (Meta), vLex (Clio), Glovo (Delivery Hero), Wallapop (Naver), Privalia (Veepee), Rover, Trip4real (Airbnb), Kompyte (Semrush), Argilla (Hugging Face), Build38 (OneSpan), Signadyne (Keysight), Lucierna (SmartBear) and Gigas (IPO). Active holdings include iPronics, Barbara, Enline, Strikeready, Scalestack, 8Layers, Artiso AI, PLD Space, KD (formerly KDPOF), Immfly, Wooptix and Nanusens.
Team
- Roma Jelinskaite, Director
- Milos Esteva, Portfolio Manager
- Albert Morro, Principal
- Aleix Perez, Principal
- Gina Codoni, Investment Analyst
- Beltran Vives, Legal Counsel
Decision Process
Not disclosed. As a corporate-backed fund inside Criteria Capital Risc it likely runs an investment committee, but the site does not say. It accepts decks through a contact form.
Founder Preferences
Visionary, fully committed and international teams, with defensibility from technology or IP. The pre-seed track favors Spanish, Portuguese or Iberian-rooted founders.
Geographic Focus
Europe and the US, with the pre-seed track concentrated in Spain and Portugal. The firm is based in Barcelona.
Gaps
AUM is stated as "+300M" euros on the site. Third-party profiles give differing deal counts. No fund-level decision process or warm-intro policy is published.