Samaipata launches €110M Fund III to back early-stage AI-native startups across Europe

Samaipata, an early-stage pan-European venture capital firm, today announced that it has launched its third fund, Samaipata III, targeting €110 million, to back early-stage tech startups building on the AI wave.

The fundraising process has already made significant progress, reaching €70 million. Institutional anchor investors include Spain’s SETT (Spanish Society for Technological Transformation) and Germany’s KfW, along with several prominent Spanish family offices. The fund has also received support from founders previously backed by Samaipata through its initial two funds, as well as from other entrepreneurs in the European tech ecosystem. 

“Samaipata III is launching at a particularly relevant moment for the European tech ecosystem. AI is moving beyond the experimental phase and beginning to integrate into critical processes with tangible impact. We see a clear opportunity to invest in teams capable of applying this technology in complex markets and building globally relevant companies from Europe,” said José del Barrio, founding partner at Samaipata.

Spain-based Samaipata was founded in 2016 by two entrepreneurs, Eduardo Díez-Hochleitner and del Barrio. Díez-Hochleitner is the Chairman and an early Business Angel at Másmóvil Group, a multi-billion-euro Spanish telecom operator. He previously served as a Partner at Apax Partners and founded a Barcelona-based 3D audio technology company called IMM Sound, which was sold to Dolby. del Barrio was the co-founder of La Nevera Roja, a leading food delivery platform in Spain, which was sold to Rocket Internet for €85.9 million ($100 million) in 2015.

The new fund will adhere to Samaipata’s investment approach. The VC firm aims to invest in 25 to 30 early-stage companies, with the ability to allocate up to €10 million per startup over time. 

With this third fund, which held its first close in February, Samaipata aims to consolidate a long-term pan-European investor base. The fundraising process will continue until it reaches €110 million, aiming to attract new institutional and private investors. 

Samaipata III will continue to leverage the firm’s Founder Success platform, designed to boost portfolio growth beyond just capital. According to the VC firm, founders gain access to a network of Operating Partners with experience at companies such as Anthropic, Google, Airbnb, Spotify and N26, who offer strategic insight and practical operational expertise at critical stages of development. 

The firm also states that it helps connect with potential clients and talent, leveraging partnerships with top technology companies such as Nvidia, Anthropic, Microsoft Azure, and Google Gemini to boost technical capabilities and commercial traction.

The new fund’s primary focus is on AI-native businesses that develop application-layer products with the capacity to scale internationally from the start.

“Samaipata III will back projects focused on abstracting the complexity of AI deployment into real-world use cases, primarily in B2B environments. This is a set of challenges where Europe is particularly well positioned to scale globally competitive technology champions,” said the firm in the press release. 

The firm plans to support European teams poised to benefit from rapid AI development and adoption. It believes that this technological shift is structurally expanding the software market, rapidly shortening development cycles and enabling new categories of use cases.

Samaipata manages €250 million in assets and has backed 44 startups across Europe, including Matera, Nory, Deporvillage, Bigblue, Embat, Imperia, Legl, and VIVLA. The firm reports that its early-stage portfolio stands out, with 80% of Fund I companies advancing to Series A and 60% of Fund II companies reaching that stage within five years, backed by leading international later-stage venture capital firms such as Accel, Creandum and Index Ventures.

Deporvillage is one of the firm’s most significant exits, having been sold to JD Sports and reaching a 25-fold valuation increase from first ticket to exit.

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