Revolut Founder's $500M Bet on AI-Driven Venture Capital

Jan de Vries · 2026-08-18

When Nik Storonsky, the CEO behind Revolut, decided to shake up how venture capital works, people paid attention. His London-based firm, QuantumLight, just closed its second fund at a massive $500 million (€432 million). That's double the size of its first fund, and it signals something bigger: the rise of algorithms in an industry that has always run on gut feeling and handshakes. The fund didn't just meet its target. It blew past it, and QuantumLight says it was oversubscribed. Ilya Kondrashov, the firm's CEO, confirmed the news. For context, this comes roughly 15 months after QuantumLight raised $257 million (€222 million) for its debut fund back in May 2025. ### A wave of European fund closes QuantumLight isn't the only one making moves. Across Europe, we're seeing a steady stream of venture funds closing with serious capital. It's a good sign for startups looking for backing, and it shows that investors are still hungry for early-stage opportunities. Here are some of the notable closes we've seen recently: - Transition Ventures (London): $148 million Fund II - Merantix Capital (Berlin): $119 million AI Fund - DFF Ventures (Amsterdam): $81 million Fund III - Pitchdrive (Antwerp): $70 million Fund IV - Creator Fund (UK): $56 million vehicle - Passion Capital (London): $53 million fourth Seed fund - Vanagon Ventures (Munich): $23 million Fund I Add those up with QuantumLight, and you're looking at roughly $1.05 billion in disclosed capital. That's a lot of dry powder for European startups, and it suggests the ecosystem is maturing fast. ### How QuantumLight picks winners Here's where things get interesting. QuantumLight doesn't rely on the traditional model where partners lean on their networks and instincts to find deals. Instead, they built Aleph, a proprietary AI system that does the heavy lifting. Aleph screens companies at scale, using quantitative signals to flag potential investments. Think of it like systematic investing, the kind you see in hedge funds, but applied to venture capital. The system isn't perfect, but it removes a lot of the bias that comes with human judgment. Storonsky has always been a data guy, and that mindset is baked into Revolut's DNA. Now he's applying it to how he picks startups. So far, the strategy seems to be working. QuantumLight has backed 27 companies, and five of them have already hit unicorn status. Their portfolio includes some heavy hitters like Together AI, Function Health, Factory, Robin AI, Ben, and Fuse Energy. ### A bold bet before results are in Here's the thing that stands out to me: QuantumLight is raising a much bigger fund before we've seen the full results of the first one. That's a bold move. But the oversubscribed close tells you that investors are buying into two things: Storonsky's track record with Revolut, and the thesis that AI can pick winners better than humans. Revolut, for those who don't know, is the London-based fintech giant Storonsky launched in 2015 with Vlad Yatsenko. It's grown into one of Europe's most valuable private tech companies, offering banking, payments, and investment products across the globe. QuantumLight is a separate venture, but it shares that same tech-first philosophy. The big question is whether an algorithmic approach can consistently find high-growth companies in an industry that's traditionally been about personal relationships and gut instinct. Other firms are starting to use AI for sourcing and due diligence, but QuantumLight has made it the core of their strategy. Only time will tell if Aleph can outperform the old guard. But with $500 million in fresh capital, QuantumLight now has the resources to really test that question. If it works, we might be looking at the future of venture capital. If it doesn't, at least they tried something different. Either way, it's a fascinating experiment to watch.