First Momentum Ventures

The startups that will matter most aren't on demo day stages yet. They emerge in research labs, industrial pilot projects, and late-night hackathons. Meet the scouts who know where to look. 👏 🪐 Gourav Namta – With 3+ years in space systems engineering at companies like OKAPI:Orbits, constellr, and The Exploration Company, Gourav manages launch operations and real-time orbit solutions, expanding his awarded engagement in the global space tech community to our Venture Scout network. 🪐 Simon Pentzien, MBA – Tech lawyer and Legal Tech entrepreneur who co-founded SECJUR (backed by Mario Götze and Nico Rosberg), which was later acquired. Now, Simon specializes in AI Governance, helping deep tech companies navigate the EU AI Act. 🪐 Sina Rajaeeian – Combining industrial engineering and machine learning expertise from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and KTH Hyperloop, Sina developed ML-driven predictive maintenance solutions at Epiroc and won the Nordea-Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI Hackathon. 🪐 Phi Linh Phan – Computer Science Master's student at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and Manage and More by UnternehmerTUM scholar, Phi is advancing AI at BMW Group. A multiple-hackathon winner, he is deeply connected to Munich's startup ecosystem. 🪐 Felix Ogon – Mechanical Engineering student at ETH Zürich, who competed in the Final 8 of the Citadel-sponsored Terminal programming competition across Europe. 🪐 Nicolas Fliegel – A Computer Science master's student at Technical University of Munich, he blends quantum technologies, AI infrastructure, and systems engineering through competing in hackathons and roles at TUM Think Tank (Quantum Social Lab), IBM, and mu-zero HYPERLOOP. 🪐 Johannes Aaron Herzog – A scholarship holder and Bachelor’s student in Computer Science at Hasso Plattner Institute, Johannes combines robust CS fundamentals with hands-on data engineering experience at SAP. 🪐 David VINCI – Developing grid technology projects and connecting startups with corporate-ecosystem adoption at Siemens Energy, David brings extensive energy industry expertise to the community while mentoring early-stage founders at Pioneers Club. Are you embedded in a startup ecosystem and want to support the next generation of founders? Join our Venture Scout community: https://lnkd.in/dqSUvfjh #FirstMomentum #VentureCapital #DeepTech #IndustrialTech #B2B #VentureScouts #StartupJobs #VCJobs

⚡ Powering the AI factories of tomorrow ⚡ Skycore Semiconductors, which is developing next-gen power converters for AI data centers, has raised a total of €5M in funding. Founded by four power IC experts with 9 years of joint R&D work at DTU - Technical University of Denmark, the round was led by Amadeus APEX Technology Fund (APEX Ventures), with participation of Balnord, Mätch VC, and us, First Momentum Ventures. GPUs and AI servers are becoming increasingly power-hungry. NVIDIA's new Kyber architecture will feature racks consuming around 600kW, compared to today's 30 to 120kW, making power delivery a critical bottleneck. Power converters, stepping down high-voltage electricity to levels GPUs can use, are increasingly becoming a bottleneck. Think of them as adapters between your wall outlet and your laptop, except they have to handle GPUs consuming kilowatts. Skycore's chips will be at the heart of the AI data center transformation. By converting higher voltage power to GPU-ready power with unprecedented efficiency, they enable compact single-chip solutions while competitors need multiple bulky modules to handle the rising power. Their patented switched-capacitor ICs deliver superior power density at >1.5kW in an ultra-compact form factor, scalable to higher powers and voltages. We're thrilled to back Pere, Dennis, Thomas, Guifré, and the team as they become the default power semiconductor platform for AI data centers. Welcome to the First Momentum family! Curious what convinced us to back Skycore? Full article below 👇 #FirstMomentum #Skycore #DeepTech #AIInfrastructure #Semiconductors #DataCenters #PowerConverters #IC

Three days in Barcelona with the team. ☀️ Cycling through the city, sailing along the coast, and spending long evenings exploring Barcelona's food scene. Turns out we're a team of engineers and foodies in equal measure. The Barcelona Supercomputing Center was also on our list, but summer break had other plans. These off-sites give us space to connect beyond our daily work. But what really makes First Momentum Ventures special year-round? We asked our colleagues, and their answers reveal what these gatherings actually reinforce. 1. Absolute autonomy from day one. For Lena, this translates into “working more like a startup than a classic VC. We own projects and domains and are only driven by execution quality and efficiency.” Linus agrees: ”From very early on, I was given the freedom to explore different things and contribute in multiple areas". This isn't limited to seniority. As Maximilian explains, "everybody has the opportunity to impact the direction of our fund." Our three days in Barcelona proved it. The best idea wins, always. 2. Colleagues who challenge and inspire. Between focused sessions on our next fund and a swim competition in the pool, we experienced what Lukas described: "Working with incredibly intelligent yet humble people who move effortlessly between deep (tech) talks and laughs." For Johanna, it's this combination that draws people in: "The drive and motivation of the team, the independence you have while driving your own projects, and the inspiring excellence in what we do." 3. A team culture that wins together. "We win together and we lose together. Each and every one gives me the feeling that I'm working with an absolute domain expert and that I need to get better myself to keep pace," highlighted Andreas. That mutual drive to improve is what Roland described as "the inspiring environment that's catching and exciting.” These off-sites matter because they strengthen what makes us effective year-round. Building Europe's leading pre-seed fund requires more than smart capital. It requires people who genuinely challenge and support each other. Got curious? For a behind-the-scenes look at how we work, read the reflections of one of our former interns here: https://lnkd.in/e2Xv676S #FirstMomentum #DeepTech #VentureCapital #Barcelona

We're thrilled to welcome Linus Habetha to our team! 🎉 Linus is currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zürich. He's been recognized at national and international science competitions, earning awards from the European Space Agency - ESA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Before, Linus led a subteam at Swissloop Tunneling, developing an autonomous micro-tunneling machine. By growing the educational YouTube channel EinfachSchule from 5,000 to over 40,000 subscribers, he has helped reach millions of learners with free STEM content. A scholar of both the Swiss Study Foundation and the Hans und Ria Messer Stiftung, Linus brings his passion for technology and problem-solving to First Momentum Ventures, where he'll support us in backing ambitious early-stage founders tackling real-world problems. It’s great to have you on board, Linus! 👉 Want to join one of Europe's most hands-on Deep Tech VCs? Explore our open positions (link in the comments).

Big news 🎉 We’ve just released LightlyStudio, our new open-source platform for multimodal ML. LightlyStudio helps ML teams curate, label, and explore datasets across images, text, and 3D data - all in one developer-friendly environment. It’s the next evolution of LightlyOne, built to make dataset iteration and management faster, more scalable, and better integrated into your ML pipelines. After testing it with leading ML teams, we’re now opening it to the community. 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eUV_HwhJ 💻 Try it for free (GitHub): https://lnkd.in/epwm9mu6

✅ From Lab to Venture: A room full of ETH PhDs packed into the AI Center to hear from founders who've been in their shoes. First Momentum’s Christian Neumann was joined by… Pavel Hrmo, who co-founded ZuriQ with an unconventional quantum computing approach. After 6 months of persistence through technical challenges, they achieved breakthrough results, publishing in Nature Magazine and launching the company with €4M raised. Elias Kleimann, who shared Wingtra's journey from tinkering with flying robots during their mechanical engineering studies at ETH Zürich to launching the spinoff in 2016. Fast forward to today: 100,000+ annual flights across 96 countries, clients including NASA, and €50M+ in funding. The panel revealed that cap tables can get messy with universities and professors involved. Professors or Angels matter most when they bring follow-on capital. And the founder journey means trading sleep for building. But both ZuriQ and Wingtra showed that research can turn into world-class companies. Thanks to everyone who joined, S2S Ventures for partnering on this, and our Venture Scouts for the support. The conversations after proved there's serious founder energy brewing at ETH. Thinking about spinning out your research? ▶️ Watch our guide on successfully spinning out IP: https://lnkd.in/d7NFNiDu

🧠 Karavela is hiring! 🚀 At Karavela, we are building a foundation model of the brain using next-generation magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our mission: decode the human brain to transform neuroscience, clinical research, and diagnosis. The team is expanding and now looking for 4 new talents : ⚡ Senior MRI Physicist — Lead research on advanced MRI physics, develop novel acquisition methods, and work closely with our AI and data teams. 📋 Senior Clinical Research Associate — Manage and monitor clinical studies, ensure compliance, and coordinate with our clinical partners. 🔬 Senior Research Scientist — Design and lead research projects in brain modelling and analysis, publish impactful work, and mentor junior scientists. 🔬 Junior Research Scientist — Contribute to core R&D, develop and test models, and grow within a fast-paced research environment. 💡 Why join us - Work on cutting-edge AI & neuroscience research - Join a team combining science, data, and clinical impact - Contribute to a visionary project shaping the future of brain understanding - Flexible work setup and competitive compensation Join us and help build the brain’s foundation model. 👉 Apply now : https://lnkd.in/eDYNszf6 #AI #Neuroscience #MRI #Hiring #Research #Startup #Careers #Karavela

After multiple portfolio companies successfully raised follow-on rounds, they are now hiring the brightest minds to advance their missions. Discover 130+ openings at the boldest European Deep Tech companies. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dSkbjWTq ⚙️ Hyperdrives: High-performance electric motors, built for mass production. Role: Head of Business Development (Munich/Hybrid). Details: https://lnkd.in/erCDjh-9 🤖 roofline: The software glue for disruptive computing hardware. Roles: Edge-AI Engineer, AI Compiler Engineer (Cologne). Details: https://lnkd.in/eFBEz3bY ☁️ Unikraft: Breaking cloud economics with <10ms starts and infinite scaling. Roles: Head of Product Marketing, Dev Relations Manager, diverse Engineers, and more (Remote). Details: https://lnkd.in/e-HrtwJj 💨 Brineworks: Ultra-low-cost direct air capture for various industries. Role: Founder’s Associate (Amsterdam). Details: https://lnkd.in/eadcjKqt 📷 Lightly: Helping ML teams build AI vision systems better and faster. Roles: Head of Operations, Full-Stack Engineer, BDR, and more (Zurich/Remote). Details: https://lnkd.in/eJachDzE 🔍 QuantPi: AI testing solution for companies that build or buy AI systems. Roles: Head of Product, Software/Solutions Engineers, HR Generalist (Berlin/Saarbrücken/Remote). Details: https://lnkd.in/etp4Bbxh We at First Momentum Ventures are hiring, too! Roles (Munich or Remote): - Visiting Associate - Founder’s Associate - Special Projects - Investment Manager / Principal, Software (Infra, DevTools, AI) 👉 More here: https://lnkd.in/eU_y6XaH Didn’t find the right fit? Set up a job alert to get notified when new roles match your profile: https://lnkd.in/dSkbjWTq #StartupJobs #Hiring #DeepTech #TechJobs #B2B #VCNetwork #RemoteJobs #VCJobs #FirstMomentum

ISPTech is recognized among Europe's fastest-growing spacetech startups by Sifted!  We are excited to see the dedication and passion of our growing team acknowledged, as we prepare for three flight missions next year.    With customers and partners like The Exploration Company and ATMOS Space Cargo also featured, alongside other startups building Europe’s space value chain, we’re looking forward to contribute to enabling sovereign missions and brand new capabilities in space from Europe. We will keep pushing the boundaries of space! The article: https://lnkd.in/dw3c84Ji