Begin Capital raises $100M Fund II, names three portfolio founders as venture partners
What's the deal? London-based Begin CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has launched its second fund, raising $100 million to back early-stage deep tech startups globally, with a focus on European founders. It has named three founders from its first fund as venture partners: Flaviu Radulescu of Runware, Elias Schneider of Codesphere, and Dan Lifshits of Dwelly.
The hires: All three run portfolio companies Begin has backed. Runware raised a $50 million Series A in December 2025; Dwelly closed a $170 million Series B in July; Codesphere raised an $18 million Series A in May 2024. Several other portfolio founders have also invested as limited partners.
What's the endgame? Begin targets AI infrastructure, hardware and silicon, and physical AI, writing cheques from $500,000 to $8 million across pre-seed to Series A. "We're doubling down on founders cracking hard technical problems," the firm said. Its model: small, flexible first cheques, then building ownership in winners.
Why now? European deep tech pulled in a record $20.3 billion in 2025, per the 2026 European Deeptech Report from Dealroom, Walden CatalystDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Lakestar. Fund II has already made nine investments, including All3, SurrealDB, CrewlineDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and xmemoryDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The track record: Fund I launched in 2020 as a generalist fund, made 28 investments — among them Runware, Fundraise Up, Native Teams, Codesphere and Dwelly — and grew from $20 million to $72 million. Begin says it ranks in the top 1% of its vintage globally, though it did not disclose the benchmark.
What could go wrong? The founder-as-partner model gives Begin a deal-sourcing network a small team couldn't build alone. But the test is whether those founders can bring in deals before bigger funds — and whether Begin keeps enough reserves to hold its stake when they do.
The signal: Begin is betting that operators-turned-investors can out-source and out-pick larger rivals in a crowded, capital-rich deep tech market. It is far from alone: AP VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → recently announced a $300 million third fund for industrial and energy tech.
Read more: Tech Funding News
Image credit: Begin Capital
