Vireo Ventures, a Berlin-based VC fund, has secured over $20 million in funding from the European Investment Fund for its latest fund.
The EIF is backed by several arms of the EU including the REPowerEU program, which is tasked with ending Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2030. Felix Krause, managing partner, said that Vireo will be investing with a focus on software start-ups in the energy space rather than companies working on infrastructure.
Both Wetzel and Krause as well as their three other founding partners have experience as founders and in the energy sector. "The energy sector itself won't be disrupted by a single start-up, but instead we believe that the incumbents do have an importance and hence the relatively young companies should look for cooperation possibilities with those incumbent players," he said.Wetzel added that he expects Vireo to close out its fund at €60 million by the end of this year or the first quarter of 2024.