Vanagon in the Top 3% of Emerging Funds Globally

We are Nominated Breakout Fund of the Year 2025

Author

Sandro Stark
August 28, 2025

When we launched Vanagon a Pre-Seed Fund built for European DeepTech in 2023 right in the middle of Europe’s toughest markets - we were told we were crazy. Now we’re backed and nominated as Breakout Fund of the Year by Allocator One, renowned for investing in the top 3% of emerging managers globally. This award recognizes emerging managers who are scaling rapidly, innovating with ambition, and setting new standards in venture capital.

A Pre-Seed Fund built for European DeepTech

We’ve seen how traditional investors fail technical founders. That’s why Vanagon is built differently:

  1. Most VC are sheep → chasing trends instead of tackling real, complex problems.

  2. They don’t understand DeepTech → if you’ve never built, you can’t back builders.

  3. They waste founders’ time → too slow, can’t even invest pre-seed , yet still take the call with founders.

We’re designed for DeepTech Pre-Seed. Tailored to the unique challenges of tech-driven founders in Europe.

This is also an Opportunity to say Thank you!

To the great families, entrepreneurs, and investors—as well as our portfolio companies—who believed in us before everyone else did: thank you.

Strategy Pays Off

Our portfolio companies Bench.ai and Sibvi are currently touring Silicon Valley, meeting 30+ U.S. investors who recognize Europe’s largest rebuilding mandate and their scientific approach.

Sibvi: Outsmarting Uncertainty

Sibvi is transforming trillions of data points into the signals that drive accurate, explainable forecasts: $1 Trillion are lost every year due to bad forecasts in global supply chains. Missing a 10% swing in raw material prices wipes out 95% of producers’ EBITDA margins. Mistimed purchases, stock imbalances, and planning errors cost a $200M producer up to $10M annually - better forecasting eliminates this waste of capital and resources.

Sibvi built the world’s largest collection of time-series data and combined it with proprietary models that separate noise from signal. Founded by Bjol R. Frenkenberger: A former child prodigy in piano, Bjol honed his analytical skills at Oxfod and King's College London and in the financial sector.

Bench.ai: The Rise of AI Engineering

Bench is an AI-powered platform designed to revolutionize hardware engineering by automating and streamlining the design process. It enables engineers to build AI-native workflows, allowing for faster iteration and smarter optimization across disciplines. Bench AI is particularly beneficial for industries such as aerospace, manufacturing, and automotive, where complex hardware design processes can be significantly optimized through AI-driven automation.

In the next 3 months, we’ll approach the Final Closing of Vanagon Fund I - having already extended our Soft Target we are looking forward backing the next generation of mission-driven Tech Founders straight out of Munich!

Where We’ll Be Next

Next week, we’re off to London to reconnect with fellow GPs, new and existing LPs. If you are in London and want to meet, we still have a few slots left for catching up.

The best is yet to come!
Axel, Sandro & Susanne