Aspire11 Deploys $108M in Revolut, ElevenLabs and More

Jan de Vries · 2026-07-14

Prague-based VC Aspire11 has deployed the first $108 million of its $557 million pension fund into a portfolio that includes heavyweights like Revolut, Databricks, VAST Data, Vinted, ElevenLabs, and Baseten. This marks a big moment for European venture capital, showing how pension money can finally flow into the startups that are shaping tomorrow's economy. The news also brought word that Zaya Kadyrova, a former Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan investor, has joined as co-founder. The fund launched back in late 2025 with a clear mission: to open new doors for European pension funds to get more exposure to VC and growth companies. ### Why This Matters for European Startups Pavel Mucha, founder of Aspire11, put it plainly: "Europe has no shortage of innovation, entrepreneurial talent, or ambitious founders. The challenge is connecting that innovation with the pools of long-term capital that can help it scale." He sees Aspire11 as a bridge to show how pension capital can do more to back the companies shaping the future economy. This deployment is part of a bigger wave. EU-Startups reported at least $315 million in related capital announcements in 2026 across private-markets infrastructure, investment tech, pension software, and venture debt. That includes: - Orbit Capital's $115.5 million Growth Debt Fund II - Berlin-based Upvest's $116.6 million financing - bunch's $32.5 million Series B - Raises by Copenhagen's Performativ and Festina Finance, plus Belgium's Warren When you add Aspire11's $108 million tranche, related announcements total at least $423 million in disclosed or deployed capital. ### Bridging the Pension Gap Zaya Kadyrova, now co-founder and Managing Partner of Eternals, highlighted the problem: "While many of the world's most valuable tech companies create most of their value while still private, much of Europe's pension capital remains significantly underrepresented in venture and growth investing." Her goal is to help long-term institutional capital access exceptional businesses and stay invested through their most important growth phases. Aspire11, founded in 2025, is a private markets investment platform. Through its Eternals and Tribes strategies, it invests directly in tech companies and selectively in emerging venture and growth managers. The firm is geography agnostic, focusing on global leaders whether they're in Europe or the US. ### The Bigger Picture: Private Markets Are Booming Data shows the median time to IPO has stretched from about seven years to 11 over the past decade. Meanwhile, the world's private unicorns are now worth an estimated $7.4 trillion. The rise of AI is accelerating this trend, with more than half of global venture capital now flowing into AI companies. Aspire11 believes the public is missing out on gains made in private markets. In Europe, pension funds allocate only about 4% of assets to private markets. Compare that to Canada, where leading pension funds put around 21% into venture and private-capital backed companies. Tülin Tokatli, co-founder and Managing Partner of Tribes, explained their approach: "Aspire11 was designed to create a pipeline of opportunities spanning the entire innovation ecosystem. Our goal is to identify exceptional companies as early as possible and remain a long-term partner as they scale." ### Two Strategies, One Goal Aspire11 combines two complementary investment strategies. Through Tribes, led by Tokatli, they invest in emerging venture managers backing companies at pre-Seed and Seed stages. Through Eternals, led by Kadyrova, they back more mature businesses as they grow into global companies. This dual approach lets them cover the full innovation lifecycle, from early-stage startups to established growth companies. It's a smart way to deploy pension capital across different risk profiles while staying focused on long-term value creation.