Top 20 Pre-Seed VCs in Europe in 2026

Top 20 Pre-Seed VCs in Europe in 2026: Investment Focus, Funding, and Notable Investments

The pre-seed stage is a critical phase for startups, where founders transform ideas into viable products.

In 2026, Europe’s pre-seed venture capital ecosystem is thriving, with numerous VCs actively supporting early-stage startups.

Below is a curated list of the top 20 pre-seed VCs in Europe, detailing their investment focus, funding amounts, and notable portfolio companies.

1. Seedcamp

Investment Focus: Early-stage tech startups across sectors like fintech, SaaS, and AI.
Funding: Typically invests €500,000 to €1 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Wise, Revolut, UiPath.
Website: Seedcamp

2. Point Nine Capital

Investment Focus: SaaS, B2B, and marketplace startups.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €2 million in pre-seed and seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Zendesk, Delivery Hero, Typeform.
Website: Point Nine Capital

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3. Speedinvest

Investment Focus: Fintech, healthtech, and industrial tech.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €1.5 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Bitpanda, Wefox, Twaice.
Website: Speedinvest

4. Cherry Ventures

Investment Focus: Climate tech, healthtech, and fintech.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €1 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Flixbus, Infarm, Cazoo.
Website: Cherry Ventures

5. LocalGlobe

Investment Focus: Fintech, healthtech, and proptech.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €1 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Zoopla, Citymapper, Wise.
Website: LocalGlobe

6. Kima Ventures

Investment Focus: Early-stage startups across Europe and North America.
Funding: Invests €150,000 to €300,000 in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Zenly, Carta, Algolia.
Website: Kima Ventures

7. Connect Ventures

Investment Focus: Tech and digital sectors.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €1 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Typeform, Citymapper, Oyster.
Website: Connect Ventures

8. Playfair Capital

Investment Focus: High-conviction, low-volume investments in tech startups.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €1 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Thought Machine, Ravelin, Mapillary.
Website: Playfair Capital

9. Inovo

Investment Focus: AI, machine learning, and SaaS-enabled marketplaces.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €4 million in pre-seed and seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Booksy, Infermedica, Preply.
Website: Inovo

10. Credo Ventures

Investment Focus: Enterprise software, fintech, and healthcare.
Funding: Invests €100,000 to €5 million in pre-seed to Series A rounds.
Notable Investments: UiPath, Productboard, ElevenLabs.
Website: Credo Ventures

11. Hoxton Ventures

Investment Focus: Deep tech, digital health, and fintech.
Funding: Invests 500,000to500,000to5 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Deliveroo, Darktrace, Babylon.
Website: Hoxton Ventures

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12. Startup Wise Guys

Investment Focus: Fintech, SaaS, and sustainability.
Funding: Invests €100,000 in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Investory, Elai.io, CallPage.
Website: Startup Wise Guys

13. VentureFriends

Investment Focus: Marketplaces, SaaS, and fintech.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €2.5 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Jeeves, Tabas, Viral Loops.
Website: VentureFriends

14. 500 Emerging Europe

Investment Focus: Industry-agnostic, with a preference for global trends.
Funding: Invests up to €1 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Carbon Health, Insider, BillionToOne.
Website: 500 Emerging Europe

15. Presto Ventures

Investment Focus: Security, defense, and aerospace.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to €5 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Inventoro, Persoo.
Website: Presto Ventures

16. SMOK Ventures

Investment Focus: Dev tools, AI, and fintech.
Funding: Invests 100,000to100,000to1 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: N/A.
Website: SMOK Ventures

17. Earlybird Venture Capital

Investment Focus: Fintech, enterprise software, and deep tech.
Funding: Invests €500,000 to $10 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: UiPath, Lilium, Oculis.
Website: Earlybird Venture Capital

18. Market One Capital

Investment Focus: Vertical SaaS, marketplaces, and infrastructure software.
Funding: Invests up to €2 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: TIER Mobility, Eversports, CallPage.
Website: Market One Capital

19. Tera Ventures

Investment Focus: Fintech, automation, and AI/ML.
Funding: Invests €200,000 to €1.5 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: Neon, GrabCAD, Modesat.
Website: Tera Ventures

20. Movens Capital

Investment Focus: AI, fintech, and SaaS.
Funding: Invests €200,000 to €1.5 million in pre-seed rounds.
Notable Investments: N/A.
Website: Movens Capital

These pre-seed VCs are instrumental in shaping Europe’s startup ecosystem, providing not only capital but also mentorship, networks, and strategic guidance.

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Understanding the Pre-Seed Stage in Startups

The pre-seed stage is a crucial phase in a startup's life cycle. It's at this stage that entrepreneurs take their innovative ideas and begin turning them into potential businesses. It's about validating the concept, building a prototype, and preparing for the next stages of growth. However, this stage also comes with significant financial requirements. This is where pre-seed funding comes into play.

Pre-seed funding is the initial capital that entrepreneurs seek to get their startups off the ground. It's often used to cover the costs associated with market research, product development, and other preliminary business operations. In Europe, there's an active ecosystem of pre-seed VCs, or venture capitalists, who are keen to invest in promising startups at this early stage.

But should startups consider pre-seed VCs at this stage? It really depends on the startup's specific situation.

The Role of Pre-Seed VCs and Seed Funding in Europe

Pre-seed VCs in Europe are known for their investment focus on technology-oriented sectors such as SaaS (Software as a Service) and online marketplaces. Often, they have a wealth of experience and a vast network of industry connections that can provide startups with valuable guidance and resources.

However, partnering with a VC isn't the only way to fund a startup. Bootstrapping, or self-funding, is a viable alternative that allows entrepreneurs to maintain complete control over their business. It's a challenging path but can be rewarding for those who prefer to grow their startup organically.

Seed funding in Europe, the next stage after pre-seed, is another critical step for startups. It's often more substantial and is used to finance the first steps of actual business operations, such as hiring staff, marketing, and further product development. Seed venture capital in Europe and seed VC Belgium are examples of funds that focus on this stage.

Early-Stage Investment and its Importance

The term early-stage investment encompasses both pre-seed and seed stages. It's a critical funding phase that can shape the future trajectory of a startup. Early-stage VCs, such as those focused on early-stage SaaS investor Europe, often look for startups with a solid business plan, a scalable product, and a strong team.

Final Thoughts on Pre-Seed Ventures and Other Funding Options

In conclusion, pre-seed funding is an essential building block in a startup's journey. Whether through VCs, bootstrapping, or other means, securing this funding is a critical task for any entrepreneur. The European startup scene offers a wide variety of funding options, from pre-seed VCs to seed marketplace investor Europe and more.

However, it's crucial to remember that funding isn't everything. Building a successful startup also requires a compelling vision, a dedicated team, and a relentless commitment to bringing value to customers.

The most important thing is to choose the funding route that best aligns with your startup's goals and values. Whether that's partnering with a top European VC, securing seed startup funding in Europe, or bootstrapping your way to success, the choice is yours.

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.

Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain

Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.

CAD Sector:

Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.

IP Protection:

Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.

Blockchain:

Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.

Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).

She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.

For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.

Violetta likes to write about Startup News in Europe, Best startups of the year, Latest Startup News, Building your first startup, Startup News for Female Founders in Europe, News for Female Entrepreneurs and Engineering News

When she’s not building startups, you can find her skiing in the Dolomites, experimenting with healthy recipes in the kitchen or helping expats with Dutch as a second language.

About the Publication

Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.

Mission and Purpose

Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.

Key Features

The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:

Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials

Impact and Growth

Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:

5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
100+ startup tools built
5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
1,000 unique business ideas for women created

Partnerships

Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.

Recognition

Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.