Carles Reina launches €12.9 million solo GP fund Baobab Ventures to back early-stage AI and robotics startups

Nov 26, 2025 - 16:00

Carles Reina, the angel investor behind Revolut and ElevenLabs, has unveiled a €12.9 million ($15 million) solo GP fund based in London, Baobab Ventures, to back pre-Seed and Seed stage founders across AI, robotics, and defense.

The new fund, which was oversubscribed and raised in a single close, is backed by Cendana Capital, Isomer Capital, RSJ Investments, Emergence Ventures, and Cyber Fund. It is also joined by operator LPs including Partners from early-stage funds Concept Ventures, Credo Ventures and Lucca & Stella Norton’s Family Office, as well as angel LPs including business angel & professional football player Mario Goetze, broadcast entrepreneur Carles Cuní, and investor Dr Fatima Godall.

EU-Startups has previously featured Carles Reina in a podcast episode exploring his investment approach and GTM work at ElevenLabs, and has also covered Baobab Ventures through its participation in Omnia’s €3.5 million pre-seed round.

Carles Reina comments: “Building startups has dramatically changed in the last few years. Sales cycles are faster, there are hundreds of competitors within months, and AI has killed cold outreach conversion rates. Founders need to move incredibly quickly whilst building a sales and growth motion fit for the AI age. To do that, they need operators on their cap table who can draw on relevant frontline experience from the AI era and who are hands-on with their help. This AI-informed operator experience is a clear gap in the European landscape and it’s one I believe Baobab can fill.”

In 2025, several European funds and robotics/AI startups announced new raises in adjacent domains, providing a useful backdrop for Baobab Ventures’ new fund.

Paris-based C4 Ventures launched a new vehicle targeting AI, robotics and DeepTech with a €100 million fund, while Expeditions introduced its second fund with over €100 million committed for cybersecurity, AI, quantum and defence technologies.

On the company side, Swiss startup mimic secured a €13.8 million Seed round to advance dexterous physical-AI systems; Slovenia’s Sunrise Robotics raised €7.3 million for simulation-trained industrial robotics; Germany’s Energy Robotics closed an €11.5 million Series A to expand its AI-powered inspection software; and Italy’s Adaptronics secured €3.15 million to develop adaptive robotic grippers.

Together, these raises amount to approximately €235 million across funds and robotics/AI companies, illustrating steady -though concentrated – capital flow into European DeepTech fields.

Within this context, Baobab Ventures’ new fund sits at the early-stage end of the spectrum, distinguished by its focus on pre-Seed and Seed rounds in AI, robotics and defence, and by its solo-GP, operator-led model, which contrasts with larger, generalist vehicles active in the same year.

“Building companies has dramatically changed over the past 3 years. What previously worked is no longer useful. Startups can close enterprise deals in <60 days and use PLG as a catalyst for PLS. To do so, they need to reach Momentum. Quickly. This means they need to nail GTM & distribution, deploy products weekly and spend extra time with customers. I’ve built GTM globally at ElevenLabs and can actively help teams build in the US, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Latam or the Middle East,” added Reina.

Carles has backed 74 startups across a number of industries but most predominantly in DeepTech since 2017. Starting with an angel check into the fledgling FinTech Revolut, he has gone on to back Vsim, Happyrobot, Strawberry Browser, Praktika AI, Praxipal and Theker Robotics.

Carles was also the first investor in ElevenLabs, the voice AI giant now valued at €5.7 billion ($6.6 billion), and became the company’s fourth hire. As the current GTM lead, Carles has reportedly driven company revenues to €172 million ($200 million+) ARR, whilst launching the company’s Enterprise offering across the US, Europe, Japan, India, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and the Middle East.

Carles is now leveraging his ability to spot and back market shifting companies building in nascent categories via Baobab Ventures’ fund. With this capital, he will be making average investments of €259-302k ($300-350k) in pre-Seed and Seed stage startups. Half of the fund’s investments will be focused on Europe, with the rest to be deployed in the US and other markets.

Baobab’s philosophy is that building momentum quickly is the most important part of a startup journey. Carles is focused on helping founders develop and execute their GTM, operations, and product strategies, as well as providing hands-on support with customer pitches, contract negotiations, and critical hires – enabling them to hit critical velocity in record time.

The team has already begun deploying capital from the fund. The fund is launching with a positive multiple on invested capital (MOIC). Startups backed at pre-Seed stage include: