Project A Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Project A is a Berlin-headquartered, early-stage venture firm founded in 2012 that describes itself as the early-stage VC for entrepreneurs building the next generation of European icons. It positions its partners as investors with operational DNA, the firm having grown out of a company-building background, and it backs founders at the earliest and most decisive stages, then stays with them long term as peers rather than following a rigid playbook. The firm calls itself a frontier investor: it invests across sectors, combining deep thematic expertise with the breadth of a generalist platform, and it explicitly favours founders who can see a version of tomorrow that is radically different from today.
Venture Themes
Fund V is organised around named frontiers of change. The site lists five themes:
- Defence Technologies: national security, technological sovereignty and democratic stability
- Industrial Autonomy: autonomous, adaptive systems that change how industries make, move and maintain
- Regulated Industries: technology that turns regulated markets into structural moats
- Frontier Technologies: moonshot technologies that compress centuries of scientific progress into decades
- Physical World Intelligence: intelligence for the world's most critical physical systems
Earlier portfolio tags on the companies page show historical themes such as European Resilience, Fintech, Future of Autonomous Work and Global Supply Chains, plus industries from AI and data infrastructure to climate, commerce, health, mobility and media.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed and seed. The firm says it leads at the formative stages, and press coverage of the Fund V launch describes the plan as roughly 15 to 20 new investments a year in pre-seed and seed companies. Project A Studio is a pre-investment platform where tech founders can validate ideas alongside the investment team before formal funding, with no strings attached.
Check Size
The firm does not publish a check size on its site. Third-party sources are inconsistent and some are old, so check size is left unset in the structured fields.
Lead Tendency
The site describes the firm as lead investor at the formative stages. Portfolio news also shows co-investing, for example alongside Atomico in Andercore's Series B. Lead tendency is recorded as both.
Recent Activity
- June 2025: closed the oversubscribed EUR 325m Fund V, taking total assets under management to EUR 1.2b
- February 2026: Andercore raised a USD 40m Series B backed by Atomico and Project A
- July 2026: portfolio company Quantum Systems announced a USD 1.2bn Series D (shown on the Project A homepage)
- December 2025: portfolio company Trade Republic reached a EUR 12.5bn valuation, which the firm calls Europe's newest decacorn
- December 2025: Florian Heinemann appeared on the Forbes Midas List Europe 2025
Fund V is the latest fund and is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm cites 130+ portfolio companies since 2012. Highlights named on the site and in testimonials include Trade Republic, Quantum Systems, Sennder, 11x, Spryker, Kry, Navan, Zepz, Black Semiconductor, STARK, ModMed, Catawiki, Casavo, Uberall, Pactum and Unmind. The portfolio mixes fintech, logistics, defence and drones, semiconductors, health, and enterprise and go-to-market software, with clear tilt toward European founders who later expanded to the US.
Team
The team page lists 24 people across investment and operations. Investment partners confirmed by press coverage and the team site:
- Uwe Horstmann: Founding Partner, co-leads the venture practice in Berlin
- Anton Waitz: General Partner, co-leads venture strategy and the investment team in Berlin
- Florian Heinemann: Partner (Founding Partner), Berlin
- Thies Sander: Partner, Berlin
- Philipp Werner: Partner, Berlin
- Jack Wang: Partner
- Malin Posern: Partner, London
- Christoph Rosler: Partner, Berlin
Other listed members include investment managers and associates, plus finance, investor relations, legal and compliance staff.
Decision Process
Partnership. Multiple partners co-lead the venture practice. No public detail on committee mechanics or decision timeline.
Founder Preferences
Ambitious European founders with a bold, non-consensus vision who value close, honest, long-term working relationships. Testimonials from Trade Republic, Quantum Systems, Sennder and 11x emphasise early belief, network help and support through hard moments.
Geographic Focus
Pan-European, from London to Berlin and beyond. The firm also supports portfolio companies that expand to the US, with offices in Berlin and London. Some portfolio companies are headquartered in San Francisco, New York and elsewhere.