As Europe pushes to strengthen its position in advanced technologies, deeptech startups are attracting increasing attention from investors seeking long term industrial and scientific breakthroughs rather than short term software trends. Areas such as advanced computing, bioengineering, infrastructure technologies, and hardware systems are becoming strategically important for economic competitiveness, technological sovereignty, and industrial resilience. Athens based venture capital firm Skybound Venture Capital is entering the market with a new founder led investment strategy focused specifically on these technically demanding sectors.
The firm has announced the launch of its deeptech venture capital fund, securing a $38 million oversubscribed first close anchored by the European Investment Fund.
Skybound says the fund will focus on pre seed and seed stage startups building technically complex software and hardware across frontier technology sectors.
Founded by Operators and Investors
Based in Athens, Skybound was founded by Thaleia Misailidou and George Varvarelis.
Before launching the fund, Misailidou worked at Marathon Venture Capital and became active within the Greek deeptech startup ecosystem.
Varvarelis previously co founded Augmenta, a company later acquired by CNH Industrial.
The founders say their combined experience as both investors and startup operators shapes Skybound’s approach to supporting technically ambitious founders from the earliest stages of company building.
Focus on Frontier Technologies
Skybound plans to invest in companies developing defensible technologies across industries including infrastructure systems, advanced computing, bioengineering, and other frontier technology areas.
The firm intends to write initial investment cheques ranging from $500,000 to $2 million while maintaining a concentrated portfolio strategy with significant follow on reserves for selected companies.
According to Skybound, the fund’s investment philosophy is operationally focused and founder led, targeting startups capable of creating long term industrial and societal impact through original scientific and technical innovation.
The company believes Europe requires investors willing to engage closely with founders building difficult technologies long before those markets become commercially mainstream.
Backing “Atoms, Not Just Bits”
George Varvarelis said Europe needs investors capable of moving at founder speed while deeply understanding the challenges involved in building technically complex companies.
He added that Skybound aims to back founders obsessed with solving difficult real world problems involving physical technologies and scientific systems rather than focusing only on traditional software businesses.
The firm’s emphasis on “atoms, not just bits” reflects growing investor interest in technologies combining software with industrial infrastructure, advanced hardware, biotechnology, and physical systems engineering.
First Investment in Brain Computer Interfaces
Skybound has already completed its first investment through the new fund in Neurosoft Bioelectronics, a startup developing scalable and minimally invasive brain computer interface systems.
According to the firm, the investment reflects Skybound’s broader strategy of backing highly technical companies capable of translating advanced scientific research into scalable commercial applications.
Brain computer interfaces are increasingly viewed as a major frontier technology area with potential applications across healthcare, neurotechnology, and human machine interaction systems.
Europe’s Growing Deeptech Ecosystem
The launch of Skybound comes amid broader efforts across Europe to strengthen investment into deeptech and scientific innovation ecosystems. Policymakers and investors increasingly view advanced technologies as critical to Europe’s long term competitiveness across sectors such as energy, healthcare, defence, industrial automation, semiconductors, and computing infrastructure.
Skybound says it plans to focus on startups developing technologies capable of reshaping industries over the coming decade, particularly in areas where technical complexity creates long term defensibility and strategic importance.
As deeptech entrepreneurship continues growing across Europe, funds combining operational founder experience with early stage technical investing are becoming an increasingly important part of the region’s innovation infrastructure.
