Earlybird Fund VIII

Germany

Seed

About Earlybird Fund VIII

Berlin-based Earlybird Venture Capital closed Fund VIII at €360 million on April 30, 2026, the largest fund in the firm's 29-year history. The firm also formalized a perpetual ownership model where GP equity stays exclusively with active partners. Total platform AUM is €2.5 billion. Thesis covers AI applications, software infrastructure, foundation models, and deeptech across Europe.

Investment Focus

Location / RegionGermany

Funding StageSeed

Industry Focus

Ai Ml

Data Infrastructure

Deep Tech

Enterprise Software

Investor Signals Profile

active

Sweet Spot

European Pre-Seed/Seed/Series A founder in deeptech, AI, fintech with technical defensibility, seeking true partners

Deeptech

AI Applications

Software Infrastructure

Foundation Models

Fintech

Bullish Signals

€360M Fund VIII closed Apr 2026, largest in firm's 29-year history, oversubscribed with repeat institutional LPs and family officesexisting

Perpetual ownership model: GP equity stays with active partners only, no external sale, no buy-in requirement — most significant structural innovation in European VC this yearexisting

€2.5B total AUM across all strategies including Earlybird Health and growth; portfolio includes Black Forest Labs, SpAItial AI, Sintra AI, Arago, Porters, Riviaexisting

9 IPOs, 41 trade sales demonstrates exit track record at scaleearlybird.com

20 new investments made last year; Pre-Seed 20%, Seed 60%, Series A 20%earlybird.com

Founder testimonials from UiPath, Aleph Alpha, N26, Marvel Fusion, smava, Upvest, Hive highlight multi-round conviction and customer introductionsearlybird.com

Day 1 partner positioning: financial resources, strategic support, international networkearlybird.com

Contrarian Signals

Perpetual ownership model is unproven across a real generational handoff; carry-only retention works only while performance stays top-quartileexisting

Exposed to European deeptech growth-stage funding gap — best portfolio companies may still need transatlantic capital partners to scaleexisting

Founder Do's

Build in AI applications, software infra, deeptech, or fintech

Have genuine technical moat (90/10 tech vs business model)

Be European or building with European operations

Expect active board partnership, customer intros, strategic support

Target Pre-Seed to Series A with €5–12M check sizes

Founder Don'ts

Don't pitch pure business model innovation without tech moat

Don't pitch consumer plays without technology-differentiated layer

Don't expect Earlybird to be passive; they back every round

Key GPs & Partners

Dr. Hendrik Brandis

Co-Founder & General Partner

long-term convictiondeeptech believer20+ year relationships

Dr. Christian Nagel

Co-Founder & General Partner

fintech expertmarket scalingstrategic enabler

Dr. Andre Retterath

General Partner

AI technical depthgenerative AIsharp technical understanding

Tim Rehder

General Partner

long-term supportoperational partnershipfounder enabler

Paul Klemm

General Partner

Jochen Küst

Operating Partner & CFO

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Fund Overview

Fund Size€360M

Saves0

Website

Key People

Earlybird Venture Capital

Dr. Hendrik BrandisCo-Founder & General Partner

Dr. Christian NagelCo-Founder & General Partner

Dr. Andre RetterathGeneral Partner

Tim RehderGeneral Partner

Paul KlemmGeneral Partner

Jochen KüstOperating Partner & CFO

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