Investor Profile: Project A

Project A is the Berlin-based early-stage venture capital firm whose pitch to founders is a simple one: capital plus a 120-strong in-house team of operators. Founded in 2012, it calls itself the early-stage VC for entrepreneurs building the next generation of European icons — and, as the firm's homepage puts it, the place 'where founders find their first believers'.

Thesis

Project A is a classic operational VC: alongside the cheque, portfolio companies get hands-on support from more than 120 in-house experts across product, growth, data, talent and go-to-market. The firm partners with 130+ founding teams from idea stage to scale, acting as 'long-term peers' rather than distant financiers. It describes itself as pan-European, operating from Berlin and London and investing across the continent.

Sectors and stages

Project A invests at pre-seed and seed, writing initial cheques of €1 million to €8 million and planning 15 to 20 new investments a year. Its stated venture themes are Fintech, European Resilience (including defence and dual-use), Global Supply Chains and the Future of Autonomous Work. The approach is sector-generalist within technology, combining deep thematic work with a broad platform.

Fund size

In June 2025 Project A announced Project A Fund V, a €325 million vehicle — its fifth and largest fund to date, raised within four months from pension funds, family offices and corporate investors in the US and Europe. The firm manages €1.2 billion in assets under management.

Notable portfolio companies

Project A's portfolio includes some of Europe's best-known breakout companies:

• Trade Republic — the Berlin neobroker, backed early on its path to becoming a European decacorn
• Sennder — the digital freight forwarder turned tech logistics powerhouse
• Quantum Systems — the drone and defence-tech company now described as a recent unicorn
• Zepz, Kry, Dixa, Catawiki, Spryker and 11x

Key people

The firm was founded by Florian Heinemann (founding partner, formerly managing director at Rocket Internet and an early backer of Zalando), Uwe Horstmann (general partner and co-founder), Thies Sander, Anton Waitz and Ben Fischer. Rainer Berak serves as operating partner and managing director, running the firm's operating platform.

Programmes and perks

Project A runs the Project A Studio, a pre-investment platform where promising founders can validate their boldest ideas alongside the investment team before any formal funding — ventures like 11x, ARX Robotics and Enapi came through the Studio during idea validation. The firm does not operate a public accelerator or a published startup-credits programme; the operating team's 120+ experts are the benefit, delivered one-to-one to portfolio companies.