Fund profile / Germany

E2D European Defence & Dual-Use Fund

Geography: Germany
Stage: Growth
Fund size: €500M
Focus: AI/ML, Deep Tech, Defense and Semiconductors
Signals: Published

N°01 / About

About E2D European Defence & Dual-Use Fund

Joint venture by AVP (formerly AXA Venture Partners) and Earlybird. Targeting €500M for European defence and dual-use technology growth-stage companies. ~€25M average tickets into ~20 companies across space, air, land, maritime and subsurface domains. Franco-German anchored. Led by Benoit Fosseprez (AVP GP) and Roland Manger (Earlybird co-founder). First close June 30, 2026.

N°02 / Thesis

Investment Focus

Location / RegionGermany

Funding StageGrowth

Industry Focus

AI/ML

Deep Tech

Defense

Semiconductors

Space

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

Growth-stage EU defence-tech or AI infra founder with dual-use path

european-defence

dual-use-tech

sovereignty-play

growth-stage

Franco-German-axis

cybersecurity-infrastructure

AI-data-ops

voice-AI

vector-search

agentic-workflows

fintech-infrastructure

deep-tech

Bullish Signals

€500M target, largest EU defence fundresearch

Franco-German institutional backing, NATO advisoryresearch

AVP + Earlybird combined platform powerresearch

$25M co-led Abstract round, 380% ARR growthexternal

Portfolio company 264% NRR, scale-readyexternal

H1 2026: 9 new investments, doubled down on 2external

Portfolio spans voice AI, vector search, agentic workflowsexternal

Oct 2026: AVP Day at Sorbonne, Nobel laureate keynoteexternal

Portfolio includes Deepgram, Finom, Isometric showcaseexternal

Active founder engagement & portfolio amplification strategyexternal

Contrarian Signals

First close not yet complete (June 2026)research

Defence procurement cycles slow for VCresearch

Founder Do's

Build for European sovereignty mission

Show dual-use commercial viability

Target space, air, land or maritime domains

Have growth-stage traction already

Demonstrate modern operating model

Achieve 200%+ NRR & rapid ARR growth

Own your data, not platforms

Focus on AI infrastructure & observability

Portfolio co-founders pitch at AVP Day events

Founder Don'ts

Pitch early-stage without revenue

Rely on single-country defence contracts

Ignore NATO/EU regulatory frameworks

27 signals on E2D European Defence & Dual-Use Fund

10 bullish · 2 contrarian · 9 pitch do's · 3 don'ts · 3 GP profiles, each with its source. From €9/month, cancel anytime.

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Facts

Fund Overview

Fund Size€500M

Saves0

Website

People

Key People

Benoit FosseprezGeneral Partner

Roland MangerPartner

Manish AgarwalGeneral Partner

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