Faber Research
Investment Thesis
Faber is a Lisbon-based, founder-first deep tech venture capital firm investing at the intersection of science and technology. Founded to back mission- and science-driven founders building novel technology that transforms large, established industries, Faber runs two specialist investment tracks under one platform: Applied Science & Digital Transformation, and Climate & Ocean Tech. The firm believes the next decades of innovation require deep tech at scale, and it pairs capital with a dedicated advisory network of scientific, technical, and industry experts to actively help founders build global companies from pre-seed through Series A readiness.
Sector Focus
Applied Science & Digital Transformation targets vertical applied AI and AI governance, robotics, computational biology and chemistry, AI and data infrastructure, and novel computation paradigms — backing purpose- and science-driven founders building deep-tech vertical solutions or cross-industry platforms.
Climate & Ocean Tech backs impact-driven entrepreneurs building deep-tech solutions in blue biotech, food and feed from the ocean, ocean health and decarbonization, ocean intelligence, desalination, and ocean energy.
Across both tracks, the portfolio spans space and satellite propulsion (Atmos Space Cargo, ISPTech, Vyoma), photonics and analog chip design (PhotonBridge, CircuitLeap), agentic AI and legal AI (Opnova, Equall), computational biology and enzyme engineering (Zymvol, Biographica), digital health and diagnostics (Sword Health, iLoF, Nostos Genomics), and ocean/climate deep tech (Ponda, Koa Biotech, Ocean Ecostructures, Hefring Marine, Seamore Tech, Mitiga Solutions).
Stage Focus
Faber invests from pre-seed to seed as first institutional check, with the ability to support companies through to Series A readiness. The approach page is explicit that the firm specializes in "helping companies become Series A ready" and tends to lead rounds, while maintaining an extensive track record of co-investing with VCs and angels across Europe and the US.
Check Size
First ticket up to €2.5M (~$2.7M), scaled to pre-seed and seed rounds. Faber invests with industry-standard terms.
Lead Tendency
Faber tends to lead or co-lead its rounds. Recent examples: led the Biographica £7M seed, led the YPlasma $2.5M seed, was lead investor in the Zymvol €3M seed, and co-led the Ponda €2.09M seed alongside Counteract.
Recent Activity
Faber is actively deploying from Faber Tech III, a €60M-target deep tech fund that announced an initial closing of €31M in November 2024, backed by the NATO Innovation Fund (its first investment in a Southern European fund), the European Investment Fund, and Caixa Capital — plus the return of key investors from the prior fund. Faber Tech III succeeds Faber Tech II (closed at €31M in 2020) and Faber Blue Pioneers I (a ~€30M ocean/blue-economy deep tech fund launched in 2021, backed by Portugal Blue/BPF). Recent portfolio investments include Allium Engineering and Porelio (2026), and Atmos Space Cargo, Graphica, ISPTech, Koa Biotech, Ocean Ecostructures, Ponda, and YPlasma (2025).
Portfolio Highlights
Faber's most notable outcome is Sword Health, a unicorn digital musculoskeletal care company backed since 2020. Other recognizable names include Unbabel (LangOps/translation platform), Codacy (developer code quality/security), Seedrs (equity crowdfunding, now part of Republic Europe), and YData (synthetic data platform). The firm has been investing since at least 2013 and counts 88+ investments per PitchBook, with a portfolio concentrated in deep tech, climate/ocean tech, and applied AI since its pivot to a specialist deep-tech thesis around Faber Tech II.
Team
- Alexandre Barbosa — Managing Partner
- Sofia Santos — Partner (Applied Science & Digital Transformation, Climate & Ocean Tech)
- Niklas Koerner — Partner (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Mário Figueiredo — Venture Partner & Chief Scientist (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Alejandro Martí — Venture Partner (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Jaime Jorge — Venture Partner (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Thomas Childs — Associate (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Rita Matos — Analyst (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Margarida Oliveira — Analyst (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Lara Branco — Analyst (Applied Science & Digital Transformation)
- Carlos Esteban — Partner (Climate & Ocean Tech)
- Rita Sousa — Partner (Climate & Ocean Tech)
- Bruno Ferreira — Venture Partner (Climate & Ocean Tech)
- Raquel Gaião Silva — Senior Associate (Climate & Ocean Tech)
- Julián Goméz — Associate (Climate & Ocean Tech)
- Rui Melo de Carvalho — Partner & CFO
The firm also maintains a large network of specialized advisors from industry (e.g., OpenAI, Protocol Labs, HiBob, JFrog, PagerDuty) and academia (NOVA School of Science and Technology, Universidade de Aveiro, CIIMAR) who support portfolio founders.
Decision Process
Faber operates as a partnership with two dedicated investment teams (Applied Science & Digital Transformation, led by Niklas Koerner and Sofia Santos; Climate & Ocean Tech, led by Carlos Esteban and Rita Sousa) under Managing Partner Alexandre Barbosa, supported by venture partners, associates, and analysts on each vertical.
Founder Preferences
Faber explicitly seeks "talent driven by mission and values" — science- and mission-driven founders crafting novel technology solutions capable of transforming large industries "for good," rather than incremental software plays.
Geographic Focus
Southern Europe (with Entrepreneurship Programs in Portugal and Spain) is the core hunting ground, with selective investment across the rest of Europe. The firm is headquartered in Lisbon at Praça da Alegria, 1, 2nd floor, 1250-004 Lisbon.