Fly Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Fly Ventures describes itself as a first-check VC backing founders everyone wants to meet but nobody dares to invest in. The firm looks for exceptional technical founders who pursue problems that are technically hard, commercially non-trivial or still largely unmapped. It almost always looks for a computational core in the companies it backs. Its stated examples of early, non-consensus bets are embodied AI with Wayve (2017), AI security with Lakera (2022) and AI-driven debt market intelligence with 9fin (2019). Orbital Industries (materials science, 2022) is cited as a foray into a new area led by the founders. Its self-described first fund returners are Wayve, 9fin and Metaview, all core AI bets.
Sector Focus
Current areas of interest named on the site: infrastructure that makes AI possible, applications that transform complex industries, AI security, robotics and embodied AI, and AI that shapes the physical world. The firm has also long invested in developer tools, data infrastructure and cybersecurity. The site stresses these are areas of interest, not investment boundaries. The portfolio is filtered into AI, dev tools and infrastructure, industrial automation and TechBio.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and Seed, from day zero. Most companies are pre-product and pre-revenue at the first check. Fly does not use revenue or product-market fit as a readiness test, but wants a non-obvious insight, a clear view of the problem and why now, and a credible starting point.
Check Size
Press coverage of Fund III (December 2024) reports first checks of 1M to 4M EUR in rounds of 2M to 10M EUR. Fund I was 35M EUR, Fund II 53M EUR and Fund III 80M EUR, closed December 2024.
Lead Tendency
Always writes the first check and leads or co-leads rounds, with very occasional exceptions. Follow-ons are selective; the defining role is first-check investor.
Recent Activity
The portfolio page and homepage news show recent follow-on activity in portfolio companies: Mercedes partnering with Wayve on autonomous driving (September 2026), Orbital raising a 50M USD Series B led by Plural (May 2026), GitButler raising a 17M USD Series A led by a16z (April 2026) and 9fin raising a 170M USD Series C at a 1.3B USD valuation (March 2026). New portfolio additions listed include Elm Labs, Cassis, CirqlOne, Clicks, xmemory, Bluesand, Poke & Wiggle, Tangent Robotics and Reimagine Robotics. Fund III is the active fund.
Portfolio Highlights
- Wayve (embodied AI for autonomous driving; seed in 2017; Series D at 8.6B USD valuation)
- 9fin (AI debt market intelligence; 1.3B USD valuation)
- Metaview (agentic recruiting)
- Lakera (AI security; acquired by Check Point for 300M USD, September 2025)
- Orbital Industries (AI for materials and data center infrastructure)
- GitButler, GitBook, GitGuardian, Axiom, Unikraft (developer tools and infrastructure)
- Exits: Scape and Bloomsbury (Meta), Palisade (Ripple), Ophelos (Intrum), Fernride (Quantum Systems), Side (Randstad), Garden (Incredibuild), Surfboard (Dialpad)
- Portfolio companies have raised more than 3B USD in follow-on funding; over 60% raise a follow-on from a US or tier 1 European VC.
Team
- Fredrik Bergenlid, Partner, Zurich (co-founder)
- Gabriel Matuschka, Partner, Berlin (co-founder)
- Matt Wichrowski, Partner, London and San Francisco (joined 2019 from Entrepreneur First)
- Steven Tran, Operating Partner, Berlin
- Meltem Tumer, Associate, Berlin
- Julian Bientzle, Analyst, Berlin
Decision Process
Founders work directly with the partner who backs them; there is no platform team. Partners are the best route in. The firm says it can move at the speed of a live round, and describes a three-stage investment process.
Founder Preferences
Abnormally intense, technically exceptional founders with their own view of the future, clarity of speech and writing, and the ability to explain why now. Solo and first-time founders have been backed. First-call questions probe what the founder understands that others do not, the inflection point, why it has not been built, and what must still be proven.
Geographic Focus
Europe, plus European-diaspora founders in the US. Fly helps European founders build in Europe and sell in the US, and helps them raise follow-on capital from US seed and Series A VCs. Warm introductions through portfolio founders and trusted contacts help materially; most founders arrive that way. Mostly no board seats, and usually out of governance by Series B.