Carles Reina Launches €12.9M Baobab Ventures Fund For Early-Stage AI And Robotics Startups

The fund was oversubscribed and closed in a single round, with commitments from Cendana Capital, Isomer Capital, RSJ Investments, Emergence Ventures, and Cyber Fund. Additional LPs include operators from Concept Ventures, Credo Ventures, and Lucca & Stella Norton’s Family Office, along with angel investors such as footballer Mario Götze, media entrepreneur Carles Cuní, and investor Dr. Fatima Godall.

EU-Startups has previously interviewed Reina about his investment philosophy and GTM work at ElevenLabs, and has covered Baobab Ventures through its involvement in Omnia’s €3.5 million pre-seed raise.

Carles Reina comments: “Building startups has dramatically changed in the last few years. Sales cycles are faster, there are hundreds of competitors within months, and AI has killed cold outreach conversion rates. Founders need to move incredibly quickly whilst building a sales and growth motion fit for the AI age. To do that, they need operators on their cap table who can draw on relevant frontline experience from the AI era and who are hands-on with their help. This AI-informed operator experience is a clear gap in the European landscape and it’s one I believe Baobab can fill.”

In 2025, European DeepTech investment continued to build momentum across AI, robotics and defence providing a strong backdrop for the launch of Baobab Ventures’ new fund.

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On the fund side, Paris-based C4 Ventures unveiled a €100 million vehicle focused on AI, robotics and DeepTech, while Expeditions announced its second fund, securing more than €100 million for cybersecurity, AI, quantum and defence technologies.

Robotics and physical-AI startups also saw notable activity. Swiss startup mimic raised €13.8 million at Seed to advance dexterous physical-AI systems; Slovenia’s Sunrise Robotics secured €7.3 million to scale simulation-trained industrial robots; Germany’s Energy Robotics closed an €11.5 million Series A to grow its AI-powered inspection platform; and Italy’s Adaptronics raised €3.15 million for adaptive robotic grippers.

Altogether, these raises represent roughly €235 million across funds and robotics/AI companies signalling a steady, if concentrated, flow of capital into European DeepTech.

Against this landscape, Baobab Ventures’ €12.9 million solo-GP fund stands out at the earliest end of the market, with a focused mandate on pre-Seed and Seed investments in AI, robotics and defence. Its operator-led model and concentrated thesis differentiate it from the larger, more generalist funds active in Europe this year.

“Building companies has dramatically changed over the past 3 years. What previously worked is no longer useful. Startups can close enterprise deals in <60 days and use PLG as a catalyst for PLS. To do so, they need to reach Momentum. Quickly. This means they need to nail GTM & distribution, deploy products weekly and spend extra time with customers. I’ve built GTM globally at ElevenLabs and can actively help teams build in the US, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latam or the Middle East,” added Reina.

Carles has backed 74 startups across multiple industries since 2017, with a strong focus on DeepTech. He began his journey with an angel investment in the early-stage FinTech company Revolut and has since supported ventures including Vsim, Happyrobot, Strawberry Browser, Praktika AI, Praxipal, and Theker Robotics.

He was also the first investor in ElevenLabs, the voice AI company now valued at €5.7 billion ($6.6 billion), and became its fourth hire. As the current GTM lead, Carles has reportedly driven the company to €172 million ($200M+) in ARR, while launching its Enterprise offering across the US, Europe, Japan, India, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and the Middle East.

Carles now leverages his talent for identifying market-shifting startups through Baobab Ventures. The fund makes average investments of €259–302k ($300–350k) in pre-Seed and Seed stage companies, with roughly half of its capital allocated to Europe and the remainder to the US and other global markets.

Baobab Ventures’ philosophy emphasizes building momentum quickly. Carles focuses on helping founders develop and execute GTM, operations, and product strategies, while providing hands-on support with customer pitches, contract negotiations, and key hires enabling startups to reach critical velocity in record time.

About Baobab Ventures

Baobab Ventures is an operator-led, deep-tech fund investing in pre-seed and seed startups worldwide. Having built multiple companies from the ground up, we provide more than capital supporting founders with GTM strategy, product guidance, customer introductions, and operational expertise to accelerate growth and turn nascent ideas into market-leading ventures.