HV Capital

In the heart of Paris last week, HV and HCVC hosted an early morning gathering over coffee, croissants, and conversations during Hello Tomorrow. 🥐 Some of the best deep tech founders, investors, and ecosystem players joined us for conversations on what’s next in deep tech—from AI to climate tech and beyond. Huge thanks to Alexis Houssou, Isabel Zhang, Alexandre Flamant, and everyone who stopped by! ☕️ cc: Jan Miczaika, Maxi Pethö-Schramm, Richard von der Horst

Which VCs kept the deals flowing in 2024? 📈 Sifted’s latest ranking of Europe’s most active VCs highlights the investors who continued to back founders through a turbulent year, and HV Capital made the list. While investment slowed in the second half of 2024, the most committed VCs stayed focused on long-term conviction, backing the next generation of category-defining companies. Check out the full ranking below to see which firms were shaping the ecosystem last year. 👇

EU-Startups has named its 100 most influential women in venture capital and technology, founders, investors, and industry pioneers driving innovation and inspiring the next generation. Among them: HV's Lina Chong. 👏 From SaaS to Web3, she’s backing some of Europe’s most exciting startups. With a sharp eye for revolutionary ideas, she’s helping founders scale and build category-defining companies. A well-deserved recognition for those shaping the future of venture. Read more in the link in the comments below. 👇

What types of AI agent startups are VCs really looking for? 🤔 Sifted's Kai Nicol-Schwarz sat down with HV's Manal Belaouane, along with other investors, to explore the latest trends in the AI agent space and what startups are catching their attention in 2025. Manal shared her thoughts on the growing potential of AI-powered procurement processes: "The enterprise sector is primed for the next wave of process automation. Imagine an AI agent that not only automates tasks but orchestrates the entire procurement process—managing everything from contract compliance to negotiating terms, tracking shipments, and predicting future bottlenecks." With over €600M already invested in European AI agent startups in 2025, the sector is primed for growth. Find out more about the startups VCs are eager to back below! 👇

HV portfolio company Beyond Presence just launched its Conversational Video Agent (CVA) platform on Product Hunt, bringing real-time, insanely realistic AI avatars to life. These agents see, hear, and respond in under a second, automating conversations without losing the human touch. What can they build? 🚀 AI-powered HR assistants – Automate interviews & screening. 📢 Digital sales agents – Deliver live product demos & qualify leads. 💡 Customer support avatars – Offer 24/7 human-like assistance. 🎓 Training & coaching simulations – Create interactive learning experiences. No code. No complex setup. Just AI-powered avatars ready to go. Huge shoutout to the team at Beyond Presence for pushing the boundaries of AI. Check out the links in the comments below to support the launch and try it yourself! 👇 Congrats to Awais Shafique, Felix Altenberger, and the entire Beyond Presence team! Cc: Zuzanna Czapinska

Meet HV at Hello Tomorrow! 🚀 Jan Miczaika, Richard von der Horst, Maxi Pethö-Schramm, and Manal Belaouane are heading to Hello Tomorrow Global Summit in Paris next week! For over a decade, Hello Tomorrow has been shaping the deep tech landscape—bridging the gap from lab to market and driving real impact. Their Global Startup Challenge has seen 30,000+ applications from 132 countries, spotlighting groundbreaking solutions. Here’s where you’ll find the HV team: 📍 March 12 – Richard & Maxi at Investor Day 📍 March 13 – Maxi as a jury member for the Advanced Computing & Electronics Track Finals at the Global Summit 📍 March 13 – Jan at Financing the Future GP LP Event 📍 March 14 – HV Capital x HCVC Breakfast Side Event—bringing together some of the best deep tech entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem partners. Expect great conversations, strong coffee, and plenty of croissants. ☕🥐 📅 Main event: March 13-14 | Location: Le Centquatre, Paris Attending? Reach out to the HV team to connect! 🔗

Fintech trading firm Flowdesk, one of the largest market makers in the digital asset industry, has raised one of 2025's biggest Series B rounds, totaling $102m. The round was led by HV, with participation from BlackRock and strong continued support from existing investors Eurazeo, Cathay Innovation, and ISAI. With this funding, Flowdesk is set to: 📈 Scale its over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives business 🌍 Expand into key global markets, with the UAE as a potential next hub 🛠 Grow its compliance and technology teams 📊 Strengthen its position as a leading liquidity provider across financial markets "This funding round marks a pivotal moment for Flowdesk as we accelerate our expansion into key global markets," said CEO Guilhem Chaumont. "Institutional demand for market-making infrastructure is growing rapidly, and we are committed to scaling our technology and services to meet that need." "Guilhem and the entire Flowdesk team have done a tremendous job in creating a hyper-growing, profitable financial services powerhouse within the vastly expanding digital asset space. Offering their clients the relevant infrastructure while complementarily adding OTC products and proprietary trading is incredibly smart. We are proud to have partnered with such a capable, experienced, and smart founder and entire management team and strongly believe in Flowdesk as a global FinTech champion," said HV's Alexander Joel-Carbonell. To find out more check out the link in the comments below. 👇 cc: Alexander Joel-Carbonell, Flowdesk, Guilhem Chaumont, Paul BUGNOT, David BACHELIER

Payrails 🤝 Flix = Frictionless payments for seamless travel. Two of HV’s portfolio companies, Flix and Payrails, have announced a partnership to optimize payment operations and enhance the travel booking experience for millions of passengers worldwide. By integrating Payrails’ enterprise-grade platform, Flix can: ✅ Ensure smooth, localized payments across global markets ✅ Boost checkout conversion rates with optimized transaction processing ✅ Strengthen security with advanced fraud prevention tools With Flix scaling its mobility network and Payrails powering seamless transactions, this collaboration is a game-changer for the future of travel and payments. 🚀 Find out more in the comments below. ⬇️ cc: Christoph Jung, David Kuczek, Barbod Namini, Zuzanna Czapinska

HV has been recognized as one of the top 5% of value-add seed investors in EMEA by Dealroom.co! 🏆 According to Dealroom, startups backed by top-performing seed investors are 4.5x more likely to raise a Series A. So what defines a true value-add investor? Dealroom analyzed 800+ funds based on: 📈 Number of seed investments—staying consistently active at the earliest stage 🔄 Conversion rate—how many portfolio companies successfully raise a Series A 💡 Quality of follow-on capital—attracting top-tier investors for later rounds 💰 Quantity of follow-on capital—ensuring startups have the funding to scale ⏳ Speed—increasing the pace at which startups secure their next rounds A huge shoutout to the HV team, this recognition underscores their ability to identify high-potential startups and actively back them in building and financing their growth. Check out the full report in the comments. 👇

New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) just became the first institution in the region to join Kipu Quantum’s Pioneer Program! Through this partnership, NYUAD’s Center for Quantum and Topological Systems (CQTS) gains access to PLANQK, Kipu’s cutting-edge platform for quantum research and development. With over 600 users from 200+ organizations worldwide, PLANQK enables researchers to: ✅ Test quantum algorithms on both quantum and classical hardware ✅ Integrate quantum computing within existing infrastructures ✅ Benchmark against existing quantum algorithms ✅ Collaborate and share research seamlessly "The collaboration between NYUAD and PLANQK marks an important milestone in the evolution of quantum research in the Middle East. The region has shown immense interest in quantum computing, and this partnership reflects the growing momentum in academia and research. We look forward to welcoming more universities into the Kipu Quantum Pioneer Program, granting them frictionless access to quantum computing through our innovative SaaS solutions." says Enrique Solano, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Kipu Quantum To find out more check the link in the comments below. 👇