Samaipata launches €110M fund for Europe’s AI surge
European venture capital firm Samaipata has unveiled a new €110 million AI-focused fund, positioning itself at the center of the continent’s next wave of artificial intelligence startups. The fund is designed to back early-stage founders building both core AI infrastructure and applied AI products aimed at transforming traditional industries.
Early-stage focus and pan-European reach
The new vehicle will primarily target pre-seed and seed rounds, with initial tickets expected to range from several hundred thousand euros to a few million. Samaipata plans to invest across Europe, with a particular emphasis on hubs such as London, Paris, Berlin, and emerging ecosystems in Southern and Eastern Europe.
The firm’s strategy is to identify technical founding teams that can build defensible products on top of rapidly evolving AI models and data infrastructure. Rather than competing with big tech on foundational models, the fund is geared towards startups that can leverage existing large language models, computer vision, and automation tools to create differentiated, sector-specific solutions.
Betting on vertical AI and infrastructure
According to the investor thesis, the fund will concentrate on two main pillars: vertical AI applications and enabling AI tooling. Vertical plays include AI-native products in sectors such as financial services, logistics, healthcare, and enterprise software, where automation and decision-support can deliver measurable productivity gains.
On the infrastructure side, Samaipata is looking at startups that provide data orchestration, model monitoring, AI safety, and developer platforms that make it easier for companies to deploy and maintain AI at scale. These layers are seen as critical to turning experimental AI pilots into reliable, revenue-generating products.
Europe’s AI opportunity and regulatory edge
The fund launch comes as Europe races to keep pace with the US and China in AI innovation. While capital density remains higher in Silicon Valley, Samaipata argues that Europe’s strengths in deep tech talent, data-rich industrial sectors, and evolving AI regulation can give founders a competitive edge.
By combining early capital with hands-on support in go-to-market, hiring, and regulatory navigation, the €110 million fund aims to help European AI startups scale faster and compete globally, potentially minting the region’s next generation of AI unicorns.