Barcelona’s Kembara Reaches €750M First Close For €1B DeepTech Fund

The fund is now actively investing in breakthrough DeepTech science and engineering companies.

The fund is anchored by a €350 million commitment from the European Investment Fund (EIF), supported by tier-one investors and additional capital in the pipeline toward final close.

With this backing, Kembara aims to create Europe’s leading DeepTech platform helping scale the continent’s breakthrough innovations into global leaders rather than facing early acquisition or relocation.

Read Also - Vexlum Raises EUR 10 M To Scale Semiconductor And Laser Manufacturing To Meet Global Demand

“Europe is at the beginning of a second Renaissance. While the original had the Medici family to fund innovation, similarly Europe’s deep tech champions today also need significant local growth-stage capital at scale. Kembara’s mission is to catalyse this second Renaissance and, with €750M already committed, we’re now backing Europe’s most ambitious deep tech founders leading this change,” said Javier Santiso, founder and General Partner of Kembara, CEO and founder of Mundi Ventures and former member of the executive and investment committees of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah.

Kembara was founded two years ago by Mundi Ventures CEO Javier Santiso and former Atomico partner and senior Lilium executive Yann de Vries. Despite Europe producing 28% of global DeepTech innovations, only 3% of European DeepTech companies reach Series B or C funding.

Kembara aims to address this gap, emphasizing that DeepTech will be a defining investment theme for the next decade, as the world’s biggest challenges cannot be solved by software alone.

“The timing reflects both urgent need and unprecedented opportunity. DeepTech now represents 28% of all European venture investment, yet 97% of DeepTech funds remain below €300M – too small to lead the €50M-€100M rounds these capital-intensive companies require to scale. Meanwhile, European deep tech companies that do reach commercialisation demonstrate exceptional performance: they achieve unicorn valuations 2.5 years faster than the previous generation and show stronger downside protection due to defensible IP and strategic value to governments and enterprises,” the firm mentioned in the press release.

Kembara has announced its full senior partnership. In addition to founders Javier Santiso and Yann de Vries, the founding partners include Robert Trezona, founder of Kiko Ventures and former Head of CleanTech at IP Group, and Pierre Festal, partner at Promus Ventures, ex-portfolio manager at ACE & Company, and former VP at Nomura Merchant Banking.

The firm has also appointed Siraj Khaliq, technical co-founder of The Climate Corporation and former DeepTech Partner at Atomico, as Senior Strategic Advisor.

Kembara targets Europe’s DeepTech Series B and C funding gap, focusing on companies with de-risked core technologies and initial product-market fit that need €50M–€100M to scale manufacturing, expand commercially, and compete on a global stage.

“The golden age of DeepTech is here. Deep tech companies now scale as fast as software companies, but with vastly superior defensibility and upside because they solve complex global problems with huge market potential. The capital intensity that once made these companies risky now creates very strong moats,” noted General Partner Robert Trezona.

The fund leads Series B and C rounds, making initial investments of €15–40 million and deploying up to €100 million per company, including follow-on capital. Kembara targets a portfolio of around 20 companies, focusing on sectors such as AI, future computing, robotics, smart clean energy, SpaceTech, dual-use and DefenceTech, and advanced materials.