Kompas VC Research
Investment Thesis
KOMPAS VC is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2021 with a specialised focus on physical industries. The firm's thesis centers on a gap between what technology can enable and what industry can actually deploy: physical industries (manufacturing, energy, logistics, infrastructure, and the built environment) face growing pressure to increase productivity, withstand geopolitical and operational risk, and decarbonise at speed, yet legacy infrastructure and real-world complexity constrain how fast new technology can be adopted. KOMPAS backs founders building "enabling technologies" that operate inside real industrial environments rather than purely digital or consumer products, and frames its role as bringing not just capital but sector expertise and access to the operators, corporates, and partners that shape how industries evolve.
Sector Focus
The firm organizes its focus areas into four investment pillars: industrial decarbonisation (advanced materials, circularity, building automation, AI-driven sustainability), manufacturing/supply chain/logistics technology (automation, robotics, additive manufacturing, AI), real estate and construction technology (embodied/operational carbon reduction, software and automation for the built environment), and enterprise risk management (AI-driven corporate risk, cybersecurity, supply chain resilience). Cross-cutting technology themes called out on the site include auditable AI, an "agentic industrial stack," physical AI, compute infrastructure, cybersecurity, grid resilience, microprocessors, biodiversity, carbon capture, robotics, advanced materials, energy, mining, logistics, construction, industrial data, supply chains, and manufacturing.
Stage Focus
Kompas Management A/S Fund II (the firm's current, second fund) invests from Seed through Series B, with a stated initial ticket size of €1.0M–5.0M. The firm operates as an early-stage investor with capacity to reserve for follow-ons, evidenced by a "doubled down" follow-on investment in portfolio company Epoch Biodesign (announced April 2026).
Check Size
Initial ticket size is stated as €1.0M–5.0M (approximately $1.1M–$5.4M). The firm also participates in follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies.
Lead Tendency
Not explicitly stated on the site. Founder testimonials (e.g., Prewave's CEO on partnering with KOMPAS "for our Series A") suggest an active, hands-on investor role, but no public statement confirms a consistent lead vs. follow posture, so this is recorded as unknown pending further evidence.
Recent Activity
KOMPAS closed €160M (~€159M per the firm's own reporting) for Fund II, announced April 29, 2026 (covered by TechCrunch). Since then the firm has published "why we invested" posts and portfolio deep-dives at a steady cadence: Beamup (Feb 2026), Backslash and AZX (Feb 2026), Epoch Biodesign follow-on (April 2026), Optiml (April 2026), Helios (July 2026), and Timefold (July 2026). A notable portfolio milestone: Lululemon committed $12M to source recycled materials enabled by portfolio company Epoch Biodesign's enzyme technology (TechCrunch, March 2026). Portfolio company General Bio (General Biotechnologies) raised a $7.4M round to produce edible GLP-1 peptides (Axios, July 2025).
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio spans 28+ active companies across the firm's four pillars, including: Timefold (AI scheduling optimisation), Backslash (AI-native application security), AZX (AI transformation for critical industries), United Manufacturing Hub / UMH (open-source industrial data infrastructure), Array Labs (space-based radar terrain intelligence), Arvist (vision-AI warehouse automation), Tibo Energy (AI grid simulation), Epoch Biodesign (enzyme-based plastics recycling, backed by Lululemon as a customer), Minut (property sensor monitoring), Makersite (AI lifecycle intelligence for manufacturers), Prewave (AI supply-chain risk monitoring), Material Evolution (low-carbon cement alternative), Fruitcore Robotics (affordable industrial cobots for SMEs), Ecoworks (prefabricated building-envelope energy retrofits), and Beamup (AI agents for supply-chain execution), among others.
Team
KOMPAS lists 15 people on its public team page, spanning investment and platform/operating functions:
- Sebastian Peck — Partner (Investment)
- Talia Rafaeli — Partner (Investment)
- Andreas Winter-Extra — Operating Partner (Investment / Platform)
- Ilena Mece — Principal (Investment)
- Nick Gosen — Principal (Investment)
- Summit Rosenberg — Senior Associate (Investment)
- Jack Cruise — Analyst (Investment)
- John Miller — Analyst (Investment)
- Hayley Smith — Chief of Staff (Investment / Platform)
- Martin — Head of Strategic Value (Platform team)
- Victoria Burrows — Strategic Partnerships & Insights (Platform team)
- Yoobin Jung — Portfolio Development Manager, Manufacturing (Platform team)
- Pauline Jimenez — Head of Marketing (Platform team)
- Omer Michaeli — AI Developer and Data Analyst (Platform team)
- Marette Vorster — Executive Assistant (Platform team)
Decision Process
Not explicitly documented on the site. Given the size and structure of the investment team (two Partners, an Operating Partner, two Principals, a Senior Associate, and two Analysts), a partnership-style decision process is the most plausible inference, though this is not confirmed by public statements.
Founder Preferences
The firm's language emphasizes founders "building technologies that can be deployed, adopted, and scaled within real operating environments" — i.e., technical/deep-tech founders solving problems specific to physical, industrial operating contexts rather than purely software or consumer plays. Testimonials from portfolio CEOs (Prewave, Tynt Technologies, Ecoworks, Beamup) emphasize KOMPAS's hands-on support with go-to-market, team building, and operations, and its network of industrial operators and corporates.
Geographic Focus
KOMPAS invests across Europe, North America, and Israel, with offices in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, and Copenhagen. The firm is headquartered at Breeltevej 18, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark.