Odyssey Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Odyssey Ventures is a transatlantic venture capital firm launched from stealth in October 2025 with a mission to close the valuation and funding gap between European and US startups. Founded by Ali Mitchell (ex-EQT Ventures) and Michelle Robson (ex-AP Ventures), the firm operates from London (HQ) and San Francisco, targeting Europe's most ambitious founders building at the intersection of AI and fundamental science and engineering.
The firm's core thesis is that AI is enabling the next great "venture supercycle" — not in conventional software, but in deep science and engineering (DeepTech). AI is dramatically compressing R&D timelines, reducing capital intensity, and enabling scientist-founders to build defensible, category-defining businesses that would previously have required decades and hundreds of millions of dollars.
"We're at the start of a 20-year venture supercycle. The world does not need another CRM, even one with a nice bit of AI on top. What we do need are breakthroughs in science, deep tech, compute, energy, human and planetary health." — Ali Mitchell, Managing Partner
Sector Focus
Odyssey's primary focus areas include:
- AI-enabled DeepTech: hardware design platforms, drug discovery tools, materials science
- Climate and Clean Energy: sustainable chemistry, carbon-free fuels, electric aviation, sustainable aviation fuels
- Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial AI: eco-friendly materials, industrial automation
- Biotech and Life Sciences: quantum chemistry + AI for drug discovery, synthetic biology
- Healthcare and Neurotechnology: neural interfaces, AI-powered diagnostics, wastewater epidemiology
The firm explicitly avoids conventional productivity software, incremental SaaS without scientific differentiation, and consumer apps without deep IP.
Stage Focus
Odyssey operates two complementary funds:
- European Seed Fund ($75M, Fund I, launched October 2025): Targets Pre-Seed, Seed, and Seed+ in Europe. Plans 20–25 core positions. Focused on deploying the first institutional check and supporting companies into the US market.
- Global Growth Fund (size undisclosed, transatlantic): Invests at later stages (Series A and beyond) on both sides of the Atlantic, backing the most successful companies through scale.
Check Size
Specific check sizes are not publicly disclosed. With a $75M seed fund targeting 20–25 positions, implied average checks are approximately $2M–$4M. The firm is known for rapid deployment — often writing first checks within hours of a decision. The growth fund writes larger checks at later stages.
Lead Tendency
Odyssey leads at the seed stage, confirmed by their leadership of the Viridi seed round and their early lead of Flow Engineering's seed. At later-stage growth rounds, they participate alongside larger funds (e.g., co-invested with Sequoia in Flow Engineering's Series A).
Recent Activity
Odyssey launched from stealth in October 2025 with Fund I. Notable activity since then:
- October 2025: Participated as a major co-investor in Flow Engineering's $23M Series A led by Sequoia Capital (alongside founders of Stripe and Unity)
- 2025–2026: Led Viridi's seed round; supported the company through the launch of Vireya, the world's first CO2-based surfactant
- March 2026: Published flagship thesis essay "The Next Supercycle" by Michelle Robson
- 2026: Portfolio company Handshake nearing $1 billion in annualized revenue in the global AI talent market
Portfolio Highlights
Early-Stage Europe → US portfolio:
- Axo Neurotech — Next-generation neural interfaces at the frontier of biology and engineering
- Flow Engineering — AI-powered hardware engineering platform ("Cursor for Hardware"); raised $23M Series A led by Sequoia Capital
- Potential Sciences — Quantum chemistry combined with AI to fundamentally transform drug discovery
- Viridi — CO2-based sustainable chemistry disrupting the $5.7 trillion chemical industry; launched Vireya, the world's first CO2-based surfactant
Global Growth portfolio:
- Handshake — World's largest AI talent network with 24M+ alumni from 92% of top universities; nearing $1B annualized revenue
Select historical investments from Ali Mitchell and Michelle Robson's prior funds:
- Pleo — Europe's #1 business spending solution (unicorn, 2021)
- Peakon — AI-powered employee engagement, acquired by Workday for $700M
- AnyDesk — Remote desktop software with 800M+ downloads globally
- Beamery — AI workforce transformation platform (unicorn, 2021)
- Heart Aerospace — World's first electric commercial short-haul aircraft
- Aether Fuels — Sustainable aviation fuels
- Oden — Industrial AI for complex manufacturing
- Permutive — Privacy-first adtech for the open internet
- Amogy — Carbon-free ammonia fuel with unicorn valuation expected 2026
- Standard AI — Computer vision for retail
- Untap Health — Wastewater-based public health detection
- Nodals AI — Next-generation media buying and digital advertising
Team
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Michelle Robson, Founding Partner (London): Chemical engineer (University of New South Wales). Founding investor at AP Ventures (European industrial/energy VC). 10+ years backing deeptech and climate startups including Amogy, Immaterial, Aether Fuels, HPNow, and AirHive. Passionate advocate for women in STEM.
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Alastair (Ali) Mitchell, Managing Partner (London): Serial founder (3 startups as CEO, 2 through exit). Former Managing Partner at EQT Ventures. Spent 10 years in San Francisco building Huddle (cloud collaboration, acquired). Backed 5 unicorns as early investor: Pleo, Beamery, AnyDesk, Peakon, Handshake. Funds he has been part of returned ~$900M to investors. Masters in Maritime Engineering, Southampton University.
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Mark Charkin, Executive Director – GBx (San Francisco): Leads Odyssey's US land-and-expand program. Extensively networked Silicon Valley investor, go-to-market expert, and sales leader. Former: Onfido, King, Bebo.
Advisors and Venture Partners:
- Anne Raimondi — COO Asana, Board Gusto and Patreon, Lecturer Stanford (San Francisco)
- Lauren Smart — Global Head Sustainable Finance, Bloomberg (London)
- Martin Eriksson — Founder Mind the Product, Operating Partner EQT, Author (London)
- Laura Yao — Board Fly.io, Founding Partner Commit Capital, EQT Ventures (San Francisco)
- Julian Gay — Founder and CEO Cred Protocol, Xendo, Board GBx (San Francisco)
- Phil Mullan — Founder (Stealth), Chief AI Officer Unmind, CTO Tractable, Huddle (London)
- Mark Watts — Co-founder and Managing Partner, Marwyn (London)
- Mike Sexsmith — VP Engineering Pascal, ex General Fusion (Vancouver)
Decision Process
Odyssey operates as a partnership between two founding GPs (Ali Mitchell and Michelle Robson), with Mark Charkin leading US operations. Decisions are made quickly — first checks have been deployed within hours of a decision. Board seats are typically taken at seed-stage investments. The firm emphasizes being "always there for you, whatever happens."
Founder Preferences
Odyssey seeks:
- Scientist-founders and engineer-founders with deep domain expertise
- Founders with a global mindset from day one, particularly those building in Europe who want US market access
- Teams at the intersection of AI and fundamental science or physical-world engineering
- Bold, ambitious founders who want to build category-defining companies rather than incremental improvements
They explicitly avoid incremental SaaS, conventional productivity software, and consumer apps without scientific differentiation.
Geographic Focus
Primarily European startups (UK, continental Europe) for the seed fund. London HQ provides origination; San Francisco office (led by Mark Charkin) provides US market access, network introductions, and expansion support. The global growth fund invests on both sides of the Atlantic.