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Two of the co-founders of Swedish autonomous truck startup Einride have launched a venture firm, which is targeting around €450m to invest into European startups over the next three years.
Called Navisalma, it was founded by Einride co-founders Robert Falck and Linnéa Kornehed Falck, along with ex-McKinsey partner Robert Westerdahl. Robert and Linnéa Kornehed Falck are married. It plans to invest around €450m in European deep tech startups, such as robotics companies, over the next three years. The funds have not yet been raised, it is understood.
Navisalma plans to initially raise around €40m, within the next month, most of which has already been raised, with funding coming from the founders and other investors. This €40m is to fund operational costs of the fund and some seed investments. It will then look to raise €450m for investment purposes, but did not disclose further detals of possible investors.
In an ambitiously worded press release, the firm said it planned to back “10 new global leaders over the next 10 years”.
The firm’s play is to focus on Europe’s strength and not try to mimic Silicon Valley, it says.
Robert Falck, CEO, Navisalma, said: “Europe is exceptional at creating technology, but we have not been equally good at turning that technology into value. We don’t need to replicate Silicon Valley. We need to combine frontier technology with Europe’s strengths in engineering, design, industrial excellence and quality to build global leaders.”
The fund has invested in Swedish startup Abundry, which leverages AI to improve the performance of energy systems.
Westerdahl, founding partner, said: “Europe already has an exceptional capital ecosystem. Our opportunity is not to replace it, but to add another capability. Our Venture Platform connects technological ambition with execution and value-creation discipline, allowing us to work alongside existing owners and investors to help frontier technology reach industrial scale.”