Voima Ventures Launches Third Deep Tech VC Fund €90m

Insider Summary

• Voima Ventures announced the first closing of a new €90 million fund focused on science-based companies, including quantum startups.
• The company lists its initial investment ticket sizes from €200K to €3m and beyond.
• Critical Quote: “Now is the time to scale science-based solutions into action and global markets. People want to preserve the planet and society urgently need to address the challenges of an aging population and health problems. Science-backed growth entrepreneurship is the only fast enough way to solve pressing global problems and it generates enormous value growth opportunities for deep tech startups and VCs.” — Inka Mero, Founding Partner of Voima Ventures.
• Image: Voima Ventures

PRESS RELEASE — Nordic early-stage investor Voima Ventures, which focuses on science-based companies, today announced its first close with a new €90 million fund. With the new fund, Voima Ventures’ mission is to support technology companies in their Nordic and Baltic startups with globally scalable solutions, with initial investment ticket sizes ranging from €200K to €3m and beyond.

Voima Ventures invests in companies tackling pressing global challenges with science-driven entrepreneurship. The investment thesis focuses on the highest value creation opportunities in the venture capital domain; solutions that accelerate global green transformation, cutting-edge life science and health technologies, and new technological breakthroughs, such as quantum, that are transforming entire industries.

“Now is the time to scale science-based solutions into action and global markets. People want to preserve the planet and society urgently need to address the challenges of an aging population and health problems. Science-backed growth entrepreneurship is the only fast enough way to solve pressing global problems and it generates enormous value growth opportunities for deep tech startups and VCs,” said Inka Mero, Founding Partner of Voima Ventures. “In addition, science-driven innovation is an important driver of new economic growth and a way to establish Europe’s technological sovereignty. As we move forward, we believe that technology and science-based companies will form the backbone of the next generation of unicorns, economic growth, and talent attraction in the Nordic region.”

As an early-stage investor, Voima Ventures supports founders throughout their journey, in scaling their solutions from research labs to global markets and eventually becoming unicorns. With €90 million in funding and a hard cap target of €120 million, the Voima Ventures team also has long-term strengths in building deep technology companies.

“We know what it takes to scale from the lab to the global market. Investing in science startups also requires a different perspective, network, and expertise than most VCs can offer. This goes beyond money: it involves understanding multiple domains and commercializing research while developing a diverse and multidisciplinary team,” said Mero.

A thriving Nordic opportunity
Since its 2019 founding, Voima Ventures has had a strong track record of investing in high-potential science-based solutions by being early investors in successful companies and next-generation unicorns such as game-changing new protein developer Solar Foods, AR pioneer Dispelix, an ingredient company carbon neutral construction Betolar, and AI-based cancer treatment provider MVision. The two funds previously had 30 active companies some of which have grown to global scale companies, including 5 exits and one IPO.

In the coming years, science-based companies present growing opportunities in the Nordic region.

“With 28 leading universities and research organizations, our home region is a leading hub for science-based startups, but also for growth of startup talent. We hope that in a few years, the number of science-based startups in the Nordics will double. To get there, we need collaboration and support from all walks of life to attract the best scientists, focus on growing university and research institute spin-off volumes, and help researchers meet Nordic growth talent and turn their science into a business,” Mero said. .

Voima Ventures truly puts its faith in science. More than 70% of portfolio companies are direct spin-offs or come from the research ecosystem. To increase talent attraction for its portfolio companies, the team has launched several initiatives such as “Women-to-Boards” to provide diverse talent to leadership teams and boards of in-depth technology companies.

Grassroots work across the region
Voima Ventures’ strong network of research communities and industry sectors has laid a solid foundation for cultivating the best ideas into successful companies. The fund actively cooperates with all the Nordic universities and is backed by one of their main investors, VTT from Finland, Europe’s second largest research institution, and also a pioneer in deep tech startup spin-offs.

“Our unique network is one of the key success factors for us. Thanks to our close collaboration with universities and the research community, we are able to access the best breakthrough innovations while they are still in the laboratory. In addition, with our strong network in the industrial sector, we have successfully supported our portfolio companies to secure industry first partnerships which are critical to scale up impactful solutions,” said Mero.

Voima Ventures Fund III investors include European Investment Fund EIF, Finland’s Tesi and its funds KRR, Finland’s VTT, Sweden’s Saminvest, and Nordea Life and Elo pension funds, as well as established foundations, and family offices.

“Deep technological innovation is critical to addressing the challenges we all share in areas such as life sciences, agriculture and clean energy generation. That’s why, with the support of the InvestEU program, we are excited to be able to support high-tech investors like Voima Ventures. By supporting startups taking on solutions from research labs for global companies, this investment can be a powerful tool to address the many problems we face, especially climate change,” said Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive of EIF.

“Innovation and science-based companies are at the forefront of addressing the most pressing challenges of our time and shaping our future. We are pleased to continue our partnership with Voima Ventures and together serve as a bridge between research and startups, enabling the most promising scientific discoveries to become opportunities for growth”, said Antti Vasara, President & CEO of VTT.

“New funding by Voima Ventures makes more growth financing options available to deep tech startups which are so important to Finland as well as expanding the local deep tech funding scene. We are also pleased to continue to support local GPs in their ongoing internationalization efforts. Overall, Voima Ventures is a great example of our core investment strategy,” commented Tapio Passinen, Investment Director of the Tesi Fund Investments team.

“We are excited to invest in a new fund specifically focused on supporting early-stage companies in deep technologies. We are confident that this will be an important contribution to strengthening also the Swedish ecosystem for venture capital in deep technology,” said Magnus Skåninger, CIO, Fund Investments at Saminvest.

With the new fund, Voima Ventures continues to identify and support the most promising ideas, scientists and entrepreneurs in their early stages.

“Especially with knowledge-based companies, grassroots work such as visiting factories and laboratories, and liaising with universities is an important part of assessing potential companies and supporting founders in the first steps of scaling. We approach all of our investment decisions with a co-entrepreneurial mindset, asking ourselves where and how we can help,” said Mero.