Speedinvest is one of Europe's most active early-stage investors, founded in 2011 in Vienna and now operating from Berlin, London, Munich, Paris and Vienna. Led by CEO and managing partner Oliver Holle, the firm invests in pre-seed, seed and early-stage tech startups through sector-specialist teams.

Funds and size

Speedinvest's fourth early-stage fund, Speedinvest 4, closed at €350 million (€50 million above target), with LPs including Aviva, PwC Germany, Generali and the European Investment Fund. Together with a €250 million follow-on vehicle raised alongside it, the 2022 vintage totalled more than €600 million — taking total assets under management to over €1 billion. The firm has grown from a €10 million first fund in 2011 to 300+ investments, and claims a top-1% seed-VC ranking in EMEA and globally.

The thesis: sector experts, founder support

Speedinvest organises its partners into focused teams covering Deep Tech, Fintech, Health & TechBio, Marketplaces & Consumer, Climate & Industrial Tech and SaaS & Infrastructure. Its pitch to founders is operational: an in-house Platform+ team of growth-marketing, HR, business-development and networking specialists works directly with portfolio companies, and the firm leads roughly 85% of its initial investments.

Beyond the flagship, Speedinvest runs focused strategies: Speedinvest x, a fund dedicated to network-effects and marketplace businesses (reported at €190 million), and a dedicated fintech focus fund that grew out of its early wins in N26, Wefox, Iyzico, Billie and Cashpresso. Its backing also shows LP confidence beyond institutions — founders from Bitpanda, GoStudent, Billie, Planetly, TWAICE and Yokoy have committed their own capital to Speedinvest's funds.

Early Speedinvest 4 bets included Finres (France), Surfboard (UK), Fertifa (UK), cylib (Germany), Neocarbon (Germany) and Fairlyne (France) — several of which have already raised follow-on rounds from top-tier VCs.

Notable portfolio

  • Bitpanda — the Vienna crypto and investing platform
  • GoStudent — the edtech unicorn
  • Tide — the UK SME banking platform
  • Wefox — the insurtech (also backed by Target Global)
  • Kraken — Kraken Technology Group
  • cylib — the battery-recycling deep-tech startup
  • Moove, Gigs and Upvest — fintech and telecoms standouts

Speedinvest does not run an accelerator programme or publish a credits bundle — its post-investment machinery is the Platform+ team and its European founder network.

Why it matters for founders

Speedinvest is a strong fit for pre-seed and seed founders who want a lead investor that combines sector-specialist partners with hands-on operational support — particularly in fintech, deep tech and SaaS, where its track record of early bets that became category leaders speaks for itself.