Vsquared Ventures

𝗡𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 - 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 🌅 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳! 𝗖𝗖: Lise Rechsteiner, PhD, Thomas Oehl, Benedikt von Schoeler, Herbert Mangesius, Michael Jobst, Patrick Tucci, Ferdinand Vermersch, Jakob Lingg, Patrick Hümmer, Gina Krymalowski

Get to know our Investor Network! 💸 We sat down to chat with Lise Rechsteiner, PhD, General Partner at Vsquared Ventures, one of Europe’s leading deep tech funds 🚀 Vsquared is on a mission to back bold entrepreneurs developing groundbreaking technologies, tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges. 🦾 This ambitious deep tech fund has now raised its second €214M fund. Their acumen for investments is one to be followed! To learn more about their investment strategies, what they look for in founders, and their vision for the future of deep tech, read the full interview here 👉https://bit.ly/3XPX1gt

How pretzels and deep tech go hand in hand? 🍻 🥨 💥 Well, pack your Lederhosen, come to Munich and find out at Bits & Pretzels, one of Europe's leading founders festivals. To make sure that you know where to find the deep tech hubs, here are the spots to talk all things deep tech: 🔦 Sunday, 29.09., 15:45 - 16:35: Stop by this years' designated deep tech spotlight at the #Soonicorns stage, featuring some of our amazing portfolio founders; NEURA Robotics CEO and Founder David Reger, constellr CEO & Co-Founder Max Gulde and Ramblr.ai® CEO & Co-Founder Roman Hasenbeck, together with Maike Lambarth, CEO & Co-Founder from Cyclize and Jonas Witt, Co-Founder & CTO from Cartken. The panel is hosted by our very own GP Herbert Mangesius. 💭 Tuesday, 01.10, 10:00 - 13:00, Schottenhammel: Want to connect one-on-one? After two days of the festival, our GP Thomas Oehl will be a table captain at the famous final event of Bits & Pretzels at the Schottenhammel. Bringing together mentors from across the industry with over 7500 founders, he is looking forward to connect with aspiring entrepreneurs from across the globe. We look forward to connecting with fellow founders, investors, and innovators at this one-of-a-kind event, put on by the incredible Bits & Pretzels team. Let’s push the boundaries of technology together and create the future! If you’re attending, be sure to reach out and catch up with us!

MAJOR MILESTONE: INBRAIN Neuroelectronics announces the successful completion of the world’s first human graphene-based BCI procedure! We’re thrilled to share that our portfolio company, INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, has achieved a groundbreaking milestone with the world’s first human graphene-based #BCI (Brain Computer Interface) procedure of its cortical interface in a patient undergoing brain tumor resection. This pioneering surgery was performed by Neurosurgeon and Chief Clinical Investigator Dr. David Coope at Sarlford Royal Hospital in Manchester, UK. INBRAIN Neuroelectronics' BCI technology successfully differentiated between healthy and cancerous brain tissue with micrometer-scale precision. INBRAIN Neuroelectronics is truly redefining the boundaries of bioelectronics, unlocking unprecedented insights and therapeutic possibilities within the human nervous system. This achievement of successfully demonstrating the potential and safety of graphene-based BCIs in the first human clinical trial is a major milestone - not just for the company, but for the future of neuroscience. For the first time, we are witnessing a technology capable of not only decoding brain signals but also delivering precise information back to the brain. This breakthrough opens up new avenues for treating severe conditions such as Parkinson’s disease with unparalleled precision. Over the coming months, the clinical study, led by Dr. David Coope and Chief Scientific Investigator, Inbrain Co-Founder Kostas Kostarelos, PhD and Professor of Nanomedicine at The University of Manchester, will continue and will involve 8-10 patients. The study was sponsored by the University of Manchester, and primarily funded by the European Commission's Graphene Flagship project. The bioelectronics market, which INBRAIN is pioneering, is already estimated at 20-30 billion EUR and continues to grow. We firmly believe that INBRAIN is leading the way into a new era where bioelectronic interfaces will play a crucial role in treating and enhancing human health, tackling conditions once considered untreatable. This is the dawn of a bioelectronic revolution, and INBRAIN is at the forefront, developing solutions that will truly change lives. Congratulations to the Founders Carolina Aguilar, Kostas Kostarelos, Jose Antonio Garrido, Anton Guimerà Brunet and the entire INBRAIN team! We’re incredibly proud to support your journey and look forward to the transformative impact their technology will have on patient care. Read all about it in the links below!

Congratulations to Lightium on raising their $7m seed round to turbocharge the performance of data centers and reduce their energy consumption! Data volume is skyrocketing, spurred by the rapid rise of #AI, and the electricity consumption of data centers is already now on par with that of Japan, making them the 5th largest energy-consuming country in the world. It is estimated that by 2030 data centers will have to handle 100x more data and consume 10% of the world’s electricity. While companies like NVIDIA have made significant strides in making GPUs more powerful, a critical gap remains in optical interconnects' data transmission speed and power efficiency. Semiconductor-based interconnects, widely used today, are nearing their physical limits and struggling to meet the demands of exponential data growth. True innovation by startups such as Lightium offer the solution. Lightium is the first company to design and manufacture Thin-Film Lithium Niobate (#TFLN) Photonic Integrated Circuits (#PICs) at an industrial scale and to offer production-grade TFLN chip foundry services at a commercial scale. TFLN, a glass-like material, enables data rates beyond the current limitations while reducing the environmental impact and cost of their ever-growing digital consumption, setting to unlock new possibilities in the market. We are excited to co-lead this round together with Lakestar and to partner with Lightium as they pioneer industrial-scale TFLN photonics chips! Congratulations to Amir H. Ghadimi, Frédéric Loizeau, Dirk Englund and the entire Lightium team on this milestone! Want to learn more? Then take a look at the press release and news coverage linked in the comments. PS: Lightium is actively growing its team, so take a look at their job openings, which are also linked below.

I look forward to The Drop and the Ripple on #EnergyManagement and #DemandResponse, which Matthew Blain from Voyager Ventures and I will host. We will discuss energy management, demand response, and how to find sustainable #growth in a critical emerging sector with founders, grid operators, energy retailers, and investors. Smart and sustainable energy management is a pressing issue today and will be more so in the future. The IEA demand response capacity forecasts for 2030 (to stay on track and achieve #netzero by 2050) correspond to a #10x increase in deployment levels relative to 2020. What will the role of venture-backed companies be in delivering this shift? Where should founders and investors focus their time to capture commercial opportunities? If you are also in town and want to connect about all things deep tech, drop me a message!

There remains a notable hesitancy in Europe to invest directly in defense technologies and overall deal volume in defense is significantly lower than in other regions of the world. Simultaneously, ensuring European independence and sovereignty is a top priority to the continent. Can dual-use investments and capacity building through innovation represent a sensible European answer to this conundrum? Where is the sector headed as interest in European deep tech and dual-use technologies continues to grow? I’m looking forward to discuss these and other questions with Nela B. from the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), Sandra Golbreich from Baltic Sandbox Ventures, Valentin Menedetter from Vektor Partners, and Teemu Seppälä, the Technology and Innovation Director from Riihimäen kaupunki - City of Riihimäki, next week at NORDEEP Summit. If you're a founder working on groundbreaking projects in dual-use or deep tech and are attending, drop me a line!

Congratulations to cylib on the official groundbreaking of its first industrial facility at Chempark Dormagen, Germany! 🏭♻️🔋 cylib, a pioneer in battery recycling, has officially broken ground on its first industrial facility at Chempark Dormagen, Germany! This state-of-the-art facility, set to open in 2026, will play a key role in advancing Europe's circular economy by recycling 30,000 tons of end-of-life batteries each year and recovering valuable materials, paving the way for sustainable industrial transformation. The significance of this project is echoed by Minister-President Hendrik Wüst, Staatskanzlei des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, who stated at the ceremony: "We spend a lot of time describing our problems. If we dedicated as much time to finding solutions, our problems would shrink faster." He emphasized: "We are not only making ourselves more competitive but also more resilient." Lilian Schwich, CEO and co-founder of cylib, also highlighted the importance of this project: "Germany and Europe need this project. Successful industrial transformation becomes tangible where the green energy transition thrives by shifting from linear to circular processes. For decades, coal and oil have fueled society, however the time has come for a new industrial revolution centered around sustainable and circular resources." Supporting this, the EU Battery Regulation of 2023 stipulates that new batteries must contain a certain proportion of recycled materials. It also includes requirements for labeling regarding durability and capacity, as well as an obligation for retailers to take back used batteries, making technologies like cylib's a must-have.🌍🔄 cylib's technology represents a solution to one of our most pressing generational environmental challenges while bolstering local industry and innovation. It doesn't only drive technological progress but also job creation, with up to 170 new positions at the Dormagen site. We are incredibly proud to support cylib's mission to create an opportunity for sustainable industrial transformation at scale 🌱🚀 If you want to learn more, take a look at cylib's official announcement and media coverage, linked in the comments. Lilian Schwich Paul Sabarny Gideon Schwich Mona Neubaur Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Erik Lierenfeld Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG Tim Hartmann World Fund Porsche Ventures Bosch Ventures DTCF | DeepTech & Climate Fonds NRW.BANK Speedinvest 10x Founders Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Industrie, Klimaschutz und Energie des Landes NRW Ministerium für Umwelt und Naturschutz, Landwirtschaft u.

Meet with Dr.-Ing. Herbert Mangesius, speaker & jury member for the Inpho Venture Summit 2024. As a Founding Partner at Vsquared Ventures, Herbert plays a significant role in funding the next generation of deep tech startups, with a special focus on New Space, Robotics & Manufacturing, Tech-Bio, and more. His expertise in these areas, combined with his background in mechanical and aerospace engineering, makes him a key figure in the investment landscape. Herbert will also be joining us for our discussion "What company would you launch today to present at INPHO 2026?", where industry leaders will explore startup ideas for the future. Join us on October 24 and 25 at the INPHO Venture Summit to connect with Herbert! https://lnkd.in/g7Qc_AaJ ALPHA-RLH, le pôle français des ondes de l'innovation BLUMORPHO Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux Métropole PhotonHub Europe #INPHO2024 #Deeptech #VentureCapital #NewSpace #Robotics #TechBio #Innovation

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 $𝟳.𝟭𝟱𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: 𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗲𝘀🧬 Thrilled to announce our investment in Kano Therapeutics, a cutting-edge Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinout that is redefining the landscape of gene insertion therapies. Kano’s innovative approach leverages the flexibility of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) to improve the delivery and efficacy of genetic medicines. Gene insertion therapies have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of inherited diseases and enhance the effectiveness of cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune conditions. However, the rigidity of traditional double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) has posed significant challenges in packaging and delivery. Kano Therapeutics addresses this issue by utilizing ssDNA, which is 50 times more flexible than dsDNA. This flexibility not only facilitates better integration into target cells but also reduces cellular toxicity and enhances editing accuracy. Kano’s groundbreaking work is set to unlock new possibilities in the field of non-viral genetic therapies. By focusing on optimizing the DNA payload rather than just the delivery mechanisms, Kano is setting a new standard in the industry. Their partnership with Novo Nordisk and the $7.15 million seed funding round, co-led by Engine Ventures and Vsquared Ventures, underscores the enormous potential of their approach. Congratulations to Floris Engelhardt, John Vroom and the entire Kano team! Read more about their incredible technology on Endpoints (link in comments).