Noctua Science Ventures raises €15M for Austrian deeptech spin-offs
Noctua Science Ventures has closed its first round at €15 million to back pre-seed deeptech spin-offs from Austrian universities, with tickets of up to €500,000.
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giftdetect· the right gift in minutesNoctua Science Ventures, a pre-seed fund dedicated to research-based deeptech spin-offs from Austria, has completed its first closing at €15 million and has already started investing. First-close backers include ERSTE Group, Verbund and Allocator One.
The fund began as a joint venture between Speedinvest and TU Wien. Its shareholder base has now widened: TU Graz, Montanuniversität Leoben, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) and Johannes Kepler University Linz have joined TU Wien in the operating company behind Noctua, anchoring the fund in the country's research system.
Closing a gap at the earliest stage
Austria is one of Europe's most research-intensive countries, yet a significant share of intellectual property created at universities and research institutions goes unused, and the number of successful spin-offs is low by EU standards. Noctua points to a lack of specialised financing at the earliest stage as a key reason.
"Cutting-edge research only realises its full value once it finds its way to market – but private funding for high-risk deep-tech projects is often lacking," said Philipp Stangl, Investment Lead at Noctua Science Ventures.
How the fund will invest
Noctua plans up to ten investments a year and can commit up to €500,000 per spin-off as lead investor in the first financing round. It invests technology-agnostically and explicitly includes teams from institutions outside its shareholder group. Scalability, market size and defensibility are further selection criteria.
The fund stresses a well-considered tech transfer and IP strategy from the start, pairing scientist-founders with experienced entrepreneurs, and a future-proof cap table. The aim is also to make the best use of research grants.
Capital providers include Erste Group Bank AG, AWS (Austria Wirtschaftsservice), VERBUND X Ventures, fund of funds Allocator One and several deeptech entrepreneurs. More investors will be admitted selectively over the coming months.
Since the first closing, Noctua has completed several investments. Two are public so far: Turn-Motion from Vienna and DiLt Analytics from Graz.
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