Merantix Capital Closes $112M AI Fund for European Startups

Jan de Vries · 2026-06-04

Berlin-based Merantix Capital just announced the closing of its $112 million AI Fund. That's roughly €103 million for those keeping score. The fund will invest in early-stage, AI-native companies across logistics, manufacturing, energy, finance, healthcare, life sciences, robotics, enterprise, and physical AI. The fund plans to make about 40 investments across European AI. Their strategic limited partners include Union Investment, Jungheinrich, KPMG Germany, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. These aren't just money people - they bring deep industry connections. ### Why This Matters for European AI Europe has a strong industrial heritage and world-class research. But something's been missing. Dr. Rasmus Rothe, co-founder and GP of Merantix Capital, puts it this way: > "Europe's industrial heritage and world-class research base positions us to produce true AI champions. What we have lacked is the connective tissue between industry and the startups reimagining industries through AI and machine learning. Pick your metaphor: We're building the glue, the connective tissue, or the bridge that Europe needs." That's the core idea. Merantix wants to connect big corporates with ambitious AI teams. They're not just writing checks - they're building relationships that help startups grow faster.  ### A Crowded Market in 2026 The AI Fund lands in a busy 2026 European VC market. Several specialist funds are targeting AI-native companies, DeepTech, industrial systems, and physical-world infrastructure. Some comparables include: - Transition Ventures' $140 million Fund II - Samaipata's $120 million AI-native Fund III target - DFF Ventures' $76 million fund for software and AI in underdigitised industries - Vanagon Ventures' $22 million pre-Seed DeepTech and AI fund EU-Startups also covered Merantix Capital as co-lead investor in OutPost Bio's $3.2 million pre-Seed round. So they're already active and making moves. ### How the Fund Works The fund is split 50-50 between two strategies. Half goes to venture studio founders who work with the Merantix team to create new AI companies and validate ideas through an extensive ecosystem. The other half goes to direct investments at pre-Seed and Seed stages. Adrian Locher, co-founder and GP, explains their edge: "Our unfair advantage lies in our ability to deliver the two things that early-stage teams need most, and often the hardest to find: talent and traction." ### The Team Behind the Vision Founded in 2016, Merantix Capital is part of the wider Merantix group. Locher and Rothe co-founded it together. Locher is a serial entrepreneur who helped build and scale more than 20 companies across Europe. He studied quantitative economics and business administration at the University of St. Gallen and founded Swiss marketplace DeinDeal before its acquisition by Ringier Group. Rothe holds a PhD in computer vision and deep learning from ETH Zurich. He studied computer science at Oxford, Princeton, and ETH. He's also a founding board member and chairman of the German AI Association (KI Bundesverband). Nicole Büttner, previously Founder and CEO of Merantix Momentum and founding partner of Merantix Capital, is joining the Capital team full-time as part of the new fund. ### Active Investments and Future Plans Merantix is already deploying from the new fund. Investments include Droidrun (mobile-native AI agent infrastructure), Arqh (AI logistics optimization), Outpost Bio (AI for human microbiology), and several stealth ventures across logistics, manufacturing, recruiting, ERP, energy, and fashion tech. This new fund builds on the strategy of their first fund, which focused solely on venture studio incubations. That fund produced companies like revel8, Deltia, Vara, and Cambrium. For corporate partners, the investment is part of a broader collaboration with the Merantix Group around AI transformation. This includes access to early-stage AI companies, selected pilot and partnership opportunities, and integration into the Merantix ecosystem. The VC says they want to build the bridge between Europe's leading corporates and the most ambitious AI teams on the continent. With $112 million to deploy, they're well-positioned to do exactly that.