In December 2025, three partners from German VC firm Earlybird announced a new fund targeting deeptech university spinouts in Europe. This €60 million initiative, led by Philipp Semmer, Michael Schmitt, and Johannes Triebs, focuses on early-stage startups rooted in advanced technologies like AI, industrial tech, and cleantech, particularly those originating from European universities.
The fund, named U2V (University2Ventures), seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial application, a major challenge faced by European deeptech ecosystems. The first closing brought significant backing, with German manufacturing powerhouse Jungheinrich stepping in as the anchor limited partner through its corporate venture arm, Uplift Ventures. Family offices and seasoned founders also contributed to the initial investment.
Why Deeptech Spinouts Matter
From personal experience building a STEM-based startup in a male-dominated field, I can attest to the struggles of commercializing innovation. Universities are hotspots for groundbreaking ideas, but translating these ideas into viable businesses is anything but straightforward. Europe excels in research but lags behind other regions like the U.S. in scaling global companies.
Startups that emerge from university environments possess unique advantages like access to intellectual property and close ties to scientific communities. But without robust funding and industrial partnerships, many fail before crossing the proverbial valley of death. Funds like U2V aim to counter this trend by supporting these spinouts with both capital and connections to market.
How U2V Positions Itself to Succeed
The fund plans to invest in up to 25 companies, with individual average investments around €1 million. These are typically pre-seed and seed-stage businesses that need not only money but guidance to navigate early challenges. What sets U2V apart is its dual focus, on scientific teams and industrial networks.
Key Strategies:
- University Partnerships: U2V has strong ties to leading technical universities such as ETH Zurich, Imperial College London, RWTH Aachen, and Oxford. This gives them access to promising research teams even before market readiness sets in.
- Corporate Network: Leveraging relationships with European industrial giants like Jungheinrich provides spinouts with vital customer introductions and product validation opportunities.
- Dedicated Focus: Unlike Earlybird X, which operated as one segment of a larger venture capital firm, U2V is entirely independent. This structure allows its team to work exclusively on spinouts, free of conflicting priorities that dilute attention.
The team has a proven track record, having already managed 50 investments during their tenure at Earlybird X. Portfolio success stories include innovations in quantum sensing and carbon capture technologies.
Lessons from the Spinout Space
While U2V is well-positioned, founders should understand common mistakes in approaching university spinouts:
- Ignoring Market Viability: Not every breakthrough needs to be commercialized. Some ideas resonate academically but lack scalable use cases.
- Underestimating Industrial Partnerships: Having a tech transfer office at your university is great, but without strong partners in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution, your spinout will stagnate.
- Poor Team Dynamics: Many research teams lack entrepreneurial expertise. Pairing scientists with experienced business professionals early can make or break a startup’s commercial trajectory.
- Funding Gaps: Waiting too long to attract investment can lead to missed opportunities. Even pre-seed funding can stabilize ventures long enough to prove viability to larger private investors.
My Take: The Future of University Spinouts in Europe
As someone who’s worked across education, deeptech, and entrepreneurship, I see enormous potential in Europe’s spinout ecosystem. What’s changing now is the level of institutional support universities offer for commercialization efforts. Tech transfer offices, training programs in venture building, and initiatives like U2V signal a shift toward professionalizing spinouts, making them more competitive globally.
The challenge remains matching the scale of operations seen in Silicon Valley, where spinouts often turn into category-defining companies. Efforts like U2V are a step in the right direction, creating better alignment between academia and industry while addressing structural gaps in funding and mentorship.
Action Plan
If you’re a university-based researcher thinking about spinning out your own startup, or an entrepreneur looking to collaborate with research teams, here’s a quick guide:
- Build Early Connections: Cultivate relationships with corporate partners who can validate your idea and, ideally, pre-sell your product.
- Tap Into Specialized Funds: Explore opportunities with funds like U2V that specifically target spinouts.
- Invest in Team Dynamics: Ensure your founding team is balanced with technical, operational, and market expertise.
- Leverage Academic Networks: Use university resources like alumni databases and accelerator programs to find mentors willing to lend their expertise.
- Pitch Relentlessly: Commit to showcasing your startup’s unique edge at industry forums, investor rounds, and tech expos.
Want to Deepen Your Knowledge?
Several universities that U2V partners with are among Europe’s most prestigious research hubs. If you’re keen on exploring accelerators linked to tech transfer offices, start by looking at initiatives offered by ETH Zurich or Imperial College. These programs often serve as point-zero launchpads for significant spinout-led funding rounds.
For more insights into U2V and its founders, visit their official website.
Spinouts are not magic bullets for Europe’s economic gaps, but they are part of the solution. By optimizing funding and academic collaboration, firms like U2V can turn research projects into sustainable ventures that put Europe back in the global race for tech leadership.
FAQ
1. What is U2V, and what does it aim to do?
U2V (University2Ventures) is an independent venture capital firm launched by three Earlybird partners. It focuses on investing €60 million in deeptech university spinouts across Europe, targeting early-stage startups in areas like AI, industrial tech, and cleantech. Learn more about U2V in Sifted's coverage
2. Who are the founders of U2V?
U2V was founded by Philipp Semmer, Michael Schmitt, and Johannes Triebs, former managing partners of the Earlybird X fund, and is joined by Moritz von Klot from the same team. Learn about the founders' journey in Earlybird-X via EU-Startups
3. What kind of startups does U2V invest in?
U2V focuses on pre-seed and seed-stage startups originating from European universities, with technological foundations in AI, cleantech, novel computing, and industrial tech. The average investment is €1 million per company. Find out more about U2V’s sectors of focus at Startbase
4. Why was U2V spun out of Earlybird?
The spinout provided the U2V team greater independence and agility compared to operating within the broader Earlybird multi-fund structure, allowing them to adopt a singular focus on university spinouts. Explore why U2V went independent on Tech Funding News
5. Which universities does U2V partner with?
U2V collaborates with several European technical universities, including ETH Zurich, Imperial College London, RWTH Aachen, TU Munich, École Polytechnique, and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Read more about U2V’s university partnerships at Tech.eu
6. Who are the key backers of U2V's fund?
The €60 million fund's first close was anchored by Jungheinrich through its venture arm Uplift Ventures, along with contributions from family offices, serial founders, and industry executives. Check out the backing details on Sifted
7. How does U2V support its portfolio companies?
In addition to capital, U2V provides portfolio companies with customer introductions, product validation opportunities, and access to industrial networks of over 500 corporate partners. Learn about U2V’s support strategy at Startbase
8. What lessons does U2V emphasize for successful deeptech spinouts?
Key lessons include assessing market viability, fostering industrial partnerships, building balanced teams, and securing funding early to overcome the “valley of death” many startups face. See U2V’s lessons for spinouts in the EU-Startups article
9. Where is U2V headquartered?
U2V operates from offices in Berlin, Aachen, and London, giving them strong geographic access to Europe’s leading technical universities. Discover U2V’s operational setup at Sifted
10. What challenges in Europe’s tech ecosystem does U2V seek to address?
U2V aims to bridge the gap between university research and commercial application, addressing funding gaps and the need for entrepreneurial expertise in transforming scientific breakthroughs into scalable businesses. Explore these challenges at Tech Funding News
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.