Fund profile / United Kingdom

Baobab Ventures Fund I

Geography: United Kingdom
Stage: Pre-Seed
Fund size: €13M
Focus: AI/ML, Deep Tech, Defense and Robotics & Automation
Signals: Published

N°01 / About

About Baobab Ventures Fund I

ElevenLabs investor launched this London-based solo-GP fund. Oversubscribed, backed by Cendana and Isomer. Plans ~€300k initial tickets, deploying half in Europe and half in US.

N°02 / Thesis

Investment Focus

Location / RegionUnited Kingdom

Funding StagePre-Seed

Industry Focus

AI/ML

Deep Tech

Defense

Robotics & Automation

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Technical founders building AI, robotics or defence tech at pre-seed seeking operator-experienced first believer

AI-native

robotics

defence & dual-use

deeptech infrastructure

pre-seed/seed

Bullish Signals

First investor in ElevenLabs signals elite early-stage pattern recognitionblog

$15M fund intentionally sized for precision, high founder engagement guaranteedblog

Solo GP structure enables extremely fast decisions without committee frictionblog

Active GTM exec at ElevenLabs — still building, not just investingwebsite

70+ angel bets pre-fund; includes Revolut, HappyRobotwebsite

Operator pedigree: Uber EMEA, Tractable (unicorn), Sonantic (Spotify acq.)website

Portfolio includes Vsim, Theker Robotics, Volumetric Bio, Murphy AIwebsite

Explicitly targets global teams from day onewebsite

Focus on reaching 'Momentum' — operator-defined early milestonewebsite

Backs teams where GP can accelerate Momentum directlywebsite

Empowers early-stage deep-tech founders to reach Momentum quicklylatest

Momentum wheel is hardest part; only thing that matters earlyfresh_website

Carles experiences real building problems across world as GTM execwebsite_fresh

GP continues active GTM leadership at ElevenLabs (Unicorn)new_content

Operator-turned-investor model ensures real-world problem alignmentnew_content

Contrarian Signals

Rejects thin SaaS wrappers and non-technical business models entirelyblog

Limited follow-on capacity; not a full-cycle capital partnerblog

Very selective volume; most founders will not fit thesisblog

GP still active operator — bandwidth split between investing and exec rolewebsite

Founder Do's

Highlight deep technical moat and defensibility clearly

Show global distribution ambition from day one

Demonstrate founding team's technical credibility

Signal intent to raise institutional capital in follow-on rounds

Pitch with speed and precision, not polished perfection

Founder Don'ts

Do not pitch non-technical SaaS or consumer plays

Avoid incremental roadmaps without transformative ambition

Do not rely on Baobab as sole long-term capital source

28 signals on Baobab Ventures Fund I

15 bullish · 4 contrarian · 5 pitch do's · 3 don'ts · 1 GP profile, each with its source. From €9/month, cancel anytime.

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Facts

Fund Overview

Fund Size€13M

Saves0

Website

People

Key People

Carles Reina

Carles ReinaManaging Partner

Backers

Known LPs

Cendana CapitalFund-of-Funds

Isomer CapitalFund-of-Funds

N°04 / See also

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