Keen Venture Partners announces the completion of its first closing (“first close”) of its European defence and security tech fund. The fund has collected over 150 million euros and is currently the largest venture capital fund for DefenceTech in Europe. The fund is fully functional and is investing capital in startups and scale-ups developing defence and security technologies in NATO’s European countries.
The Context
The NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, has clarified that Europe can no longer afford to wait to strengthen its own defense capabilities. Investing more in European technology is essential to achieve strategic autonomy. The war in Ukraine has shown that scalable and software-driven technologies, including artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, significantly influence effectiveness on the modern battlefield. European startups are developing these technologies. However, only a quarter of the European defense budgets currently remain within the EU. Consequently, those wishing to innovate the sector lack both capital and access to customers in the sector.
The Role of Private and Institutional Investors
The first closing was made possible by commitments from private and institutional investors who recognize the urgency of strengthening the European DefenceTech ecosystem. The European Investment Fund (EIF) and the Dutch pension fund PME each pledged 40 million euros.
Keen Venture Partners is the first European venture capital fund to receive a commitment from the EIF under its new 175-million-euro Defence Investment Programme. Other investors include TNO, the largest Dutch applied research organization, with deep expertise in defense and deep tech, and ABN AMRO, indicating strong support from the broader Dutch financial ecosystem.
“With the first closing completed, we are going full steam ahead,” state Alexander Ribbink and Giuseppe Lacerenza, partners at Keen Venture Partners. “We have the institutional support of the EIF and PME, and an advisory board with deep experience in both military operations and defense policies. Europe has the talent, technology, and ambition. What was missing was the capital and access to launch customers in the defense sector. With the fund, we are bridging this gap.”
“We are looking at Italy with particular attention, both towards institutional investors and founders –” adds Lacerenza. “The former have the concrete opportunity to participate in the crucial challenge for the acquisition of strategic capabilities to support European Defense; for the latter, we represent the right partner to turn an idea into a real enterprise in a highly complex sector.”
Capital Ready to Invest
Keen Venture Partners supports both companies developing dual-use technologies and defense-first companies, i.e. ones building critical capabilities directly for defense. The fund focuses on key areas of defence tech, including cybersecurity, autonomous systems, deterrence technologies and space applications. Keen Venture Partners aims to invest in more than 25 companies, from seed to Series B, with a focus on Series A, through investments of between 1 and 10 million euros.
The previous investments in the defense and security sector include EclecticIQ, Intelic (formerly Avalor AI), and Perciv AI. Keen Venture Partners anticipates vast collaboration and co-investments with other European venture capital funds in the coming years. To support this new growth phase, Keen Venture Partners is bolstering its team with a series of targeted hires.
Source and image credit @Keen Venture Partners/Point-out S.r.l.
