A Berlin VC's Bold Bet on Female Founders Just Got Bigger

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-01

There's a quiet but powerful shift happening in European venture capital, and Berlin's Auxxo is right at the heart of it. The firm, laser-focused on backing teams with at least one female founder, has just finalized its second major fund. And let's just say, the numbers are telling a compelling story. Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund II closed at a final total of roughly $35.5 million. That's a jump of more than 75% over their first fund. It's a strong signal that more investors are seeing what Auxxo has been championing all along. ### The Backers Betting on Diversity The European Investment Fund (EIF) anchored the fund, which had its first close at about $27.7 million back in July 2025. They weren't alone. New investors like Aurum Impact, EnBW New Ventures, Cherry Ventures, and Speedinvest joined in, alongside a host of family offices and angels from across Europe. Here's the stat that really stands out, though: more than 50% of the fund's limited partners are women. That's not common in the VC world. It feels like a real, tangible move toward the change many have been talking about for years. Bettine Schmitz, co-founder and General Partner at Auxxo, put it perfectly: “We are incredibly proud of the trust placed in us... investors who understand that diversity drives returns. The fact that more than half of our LPs are women shows that the industry is moving towards the future we have always envisioned.” ### Where the Money is Going Founded in 2021, Auxxo co-invests at the pre-Seed and Seed stages. Their rule is simple: a portfolio company must have at least one female founder holding a minimum of 20% of the founder shares. So far, Fund II has backed 11 promising companies. They're a fascinating mix: - **Emidat**: Climate data infrastructure for the construction industry. - **Resolutiion**: An AI platform that tackles losses from commercial disputes. - **Stanhope.ai**: Building smarter autonomous systems for robots and drones, inspired by neuroscience. - **Marble Imaging**: Developer of Earth observation satellites and AI analysis tools for defense and infrastructure. - **Delta Labs**: An AI platform for building market intelligence through synthetic customer simulations. - **Radiogenesis**: Using AI to design new radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment. This portfolio is a snapshot of Europe's innovative future, built by diverse teams. ### Bridging the Gap, One Connection at a Time But Auxxo didn't just stop at raising capital. They've launched something arguably just as important: a pan-European Founder Matchmaking Platform. Its goal is straightforward—to help ambitious women find co-founders and build teams from the ground up. They're tackling the infamous "co-founder gap" head-on. The platform is for anyone, regardless of gender, who fits one of three profiles: the solo founder missing a technical or operational piece, the experienced operator ready to jump into entrepreneurship, or the team seeking capital and direct access to Auxxo's investment expertise. Dr. Gesa Miczaika, co-founder and General Partner, sees it as foundational work: “We have always seen ourselves as a bridge. With this platform, we are building the foundation of that bridge. We want to ensure that more women found startups – not someday, but now.” This initiative is built on Auxxo's own robust network, a community where over half of the LPs are women. It's about creating the connections that turn ideas into companies. All of this momentum stands in stark contrast to the broader landscape. In 2025, female-founded companies still received just 16.5% of European venture capital deal activity. It's a gap that's both a challenge and an immense opportunity. As Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive of the EIF, noted, “Diversity and financial return can go hand in hand.” Auxxo's latest fund and its new platform aren't just financial instruments. They're a bet on a different model for European startups—one where diverse teams get the capital and connections they need to build the future.