Summer slump? What summer slump! This July saw plenty of action for our portfolio - Lakera and LegalFly closed significant Series A rounds, Proxima Fusion secured a funding first, N26 continued its European expansion, and much more. Read on for all of our highlights this month...
$20M to expand Lakera's GenAI security solution
Lakera (RAC VI) raised $20M in Series A funding to expand their GenAI security tools! We doubled down on our support in this round, led by Atomico, with participation from Citi Ventures and Dropbox Ventures. Founded in Switzerland, Lakera provides pioneering AI safety tools to address critical cybersecurity gaps left by GenAI. As the only real-time GenAI security company, Lakera has already attracted the attention of over a third of Fortune 500 companies. We led Lakera's $10M Seed round last year, impressed by the founding team's machine learning expertise and developer-first approach. Since then, we've provided hands-on support as they triple their team, expand to the US, and strengthen their position as a leader in the new age of cybersecurity. Watch this space...
Read more in Fortune.
LegalFly soars to new heights with €15M Series A
LegalFly (RAC VII) secured a €15M Series A round just eight months after we led their €2M Seed round. We are delighted to contribute to the latest round and welcome Notion Capital and Fortino Capital on board as new investors. It's been a cracker of a year for the LegalFly team - founded only in mid 2023, the company is already setting a new global standard for responsible AI with its secure, LLM-agnostic platform that transforms legal workflows. The latest round will help scale the LegalFly team, accelerate new feature development, and further expand across Europe. As a standout company within the Vertical AI space (one of our key investment focuses), we're proud to continue to empower founders Ruben, Kasper, Dennis, and Gregory as they bring much-needed innovation into the legal sector.
Read more in Sifted.
Portfolio news
The latest updates from our portfolio, in no particular order:
Proxima Fusion (RAC VII) received a €2.5M grant from the European Innovation Council's EIC Accelerator program, with the opportunity to receive up to €15M more. This funding will help kickstart the engineering design of Proxima's first stellarator, bringing them one step closer to demonstrating net fusion energy and their mission of providing Europe with clean, abundant, and affordable energy.
Aktiia (RAC III/Summit Fund) appointed industry veteran Raghav Gupta as their new CEO. Raghav brings an impressive track record of growth and commercialization, and a wealth of experience across consumer, enterprise, and deeptech sectors. His appointment comes at a pivotal growth inflection point for the company following their CHF 27M Series A round earlier this year. Read more here.
Sennder (Summit Fund) announced the acquisition of C.H. Robinson, one of the world’s largest logistics providers with $22Bn in freight-under-management. They also announced a joint venture with Italian logistics operator Poste Italiane to move parcels and mail between sorting and distribution hubs, focusing on Poste Italiane's €100M-a-year long-haul road transportation efficiency. Read more in Tech Crunch.
Infinite Roots (RAC IV) was recognized as one of Germany’s most innovative startups by top business publication Handelsblatt. The team was praised for their achievements as pioneers in creating mycelium-based products, helping to lead the way towards a more sustainable and health-focused food sector. Read more in Handelsblatt.
redalpine highlights
This month our Berlin and Zurich teams came together to celebrate our annual summer party, hosted at the iconic David Geisser Kochstudio in Wermatswil near Zurich. We engaged in an intense kitchen battle with three teams, led by Peter and Harald (vegan), Michael and Sebastian (vegetarian), and Oliver and Bettina (meat). The challenge? To create the best dishes using only the available ingredients, no recipes provided. While Team Michael and Sebastian officially took first place, we were all winners as we tucked into a delicious ‘home-cooked’ dinner, with the highlights naturally being dishes using products from our portfolio companies Umiami, Infinite Roots, and Luya.
The evening was also a moment to reflect on redalpine’s journey – from our founding in 2006 to today:
🇨🇭 Two Swiss founders ⮕ a team of 40+ scientists, operators, entrepreneurs, and experts from around the globe
📈 One CHF 20M fund ⮕ six early-stage funds + 1 multi-stage evergreen fund, totalling €1bn+ in AuM
💯 One initial investment ⮕ Over 100 investments in companies at the continuum of science + software (and counting)
🌍 From our home base in Zurich ⮕ Berlin, Silicon Valley, and beyond…
Teamwork, creative thinking, bold ideas, and meticulous execution – the perfect combination for a fantastic evening and nearly 20 years of empowering GameChangers!
Sifted 30: Central Europe report
From a unicorn density higher than France’s to having the second-largest number of high revenue growth startups in Central Europe (including Relai and Aktiia!) and two of the best technical universities in the world, there’s a reason Switzerland continues to be the top country when it comes to innovation. Michael spoke to Sifted about Swiss startups and his insights from nearly 20 years as a Founding Partner of redalpine for the Sifted 30: Central Europe 2024 report. We're proud to play a role in building the local tech ecosystem since 2006 and continue to strongly believe Switzerland has the right ingredients for startup success!
Read more in Sifted.
What we're reading
The Singularity is Nearer - Ray Kurzweil
Why it matters: As a continuation of his earlier work, "The Singularity Is Near," which correctly predicted the rise of today’s AI back in the early 2000s, Ray Kurzweil’s updated takes on AI, biotechnology, and other transformative technologies are a fascinating read. He highlights the accelerating pace of technological change and its profound implications for society, providing a helpful perspective for understanding these trends, anticipating market shifts, and identifying emerging opportunities, as well as understanding the ethics of AI.
Meta warns EU regulatory efforts risk bloc missing out on AI advances - The Financial Times
Why it matters: Meta announced it won’t release its multimodal Llama AI Model in the EU because the regulatory environment is too "unpredictable". This is a major wake-up call for Europe as an example of how regulators need to place more weight on the economic value of technological advancement. Protecting citizens is crucial, but striking the right balance is pertinent, as it comes at the expense of our global competitiveness. The speed at which tech is advancing, especially now with AI as a catalyst, means that new regulatory hurdles might have an even greater impact on Europe’s economy. It’s essential to create an environment that supports the great thinkers that we have in Europe.
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